Help Me
by Dracoisalooker76
Summary: Casey Bolton's life is falling apart, Nathan Hillier's life is just beginning. Can he help her pick up the pieces, or will he let her fall through the cracks? Troy sibling story.
1. Prologue

Hello, it's me again with my newest story, _Help Me_. Sorry about the wait, school is a drag.

Anyway, here's the full summary:

Casey Bolton's perfect life is a complete mess. Her oldest brother died from an 'accidental' overdose, but she knew he'd been depressed for years. Her father's paying no attention to her because he's spending all his time trying to keep her living brother Troy on the right track. Now, because of the year they've had, her parents are going through a bitter divorce and each of them want full custody, yet her mother's moving to Oregon and her father's staying in New Mexico.

Enter Nathan Hillier, the new kid from Massachusetts. Immediately upon his arrival, the quiet brunette in the corner catches his eye because she is upset. But, when he learns about what happened, will he stay to help or run away like everyone else, not wanting to get involved in the tangled web of Bolton life?

Now that you're excited (hopefully), lets read!

* * *

**Help Me**

I cried out with no reply  
And I can't feel You by my side  
So I'll hold tight to what I know  
You're here and I'm never alone

- Never Alone, Barlow Girl

**Prologue**

In just seconds, her perfect life was a complete and utter mess. Her grasp of life and all reality was stripped from her hands in minutes. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks and landed on the soft purple comforter she was holding close to her body. She was supposed to be asleep, fast asleep and dreaming in her bed, but she had lost all control of her body. Suddenly, it didn't want to sleep, was never hungry, and was always fighting with her brain as if they were two totally different parts, not connected at all.

It had been two weeks. The man she had talked to had said it could take many months, years even, for her to return to her normal routines. He said that it was very hard to deal with the loss of a beloved brother. But, it wasn't the loss that was hard to deal with. She had known for a long time that it was coming. Dylan had been dealing with depression for as long as she could remember and no matter how hard they tried to help, they never did.

No, what was hard for her to deal with was the changes that were happening around her. She felt like she barely knew Troy anymore. The only way he came out of his room was if one of her parents physically forced him to. And her parents, they were strangers. They sent glares across the table; ones that said 'how could you let this happen to my family?'

"Ugh!" she heard her mother scream. "I'm tired of this! If you think you can do it all, then lets see! I'm leaving, and I'm taking Casey, and Troy when he's ready."

"You will not!" her father yelled. Casey felt more salty tears descend toward her blanket. She knew they were fighting downstairs, most likely in the kitchen. They had fought almost non-stop for a week already. "I'm not going to be their weekend parent! Where will you go anyway? You don't even have a job!"

Casey knew it was only a matter of time before one of her parents gave the other the divorce papers. They'd been fighting for months and every time they never resolved anything. Lately, the yelling was just getting louder and the insults were growing more hard to handle.

She put her head in her hands as the front door slammed shut below her. Just a year ago, they had one of the happiest families, but that had been when Dylan was hiding his depression. Now, her family was falling apart. She didn't blame Dylan though, unlike Troy. Her older brother hated Dylan for doing what he did, but deep inside, Casey knew that Troy was just scared.

Her eyes scanned the room from the cracks between her fingers. Her light blue walls now showed so much pain. This was her sanctuary, her escape from life. For her, it was the difference between light and dark, good and evil. Her thoughts were light, her life was dark. Being by herself was good, her family was evil.

She lifted her head and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked more like Dylan than Troy. Her hair was darker, her eyes were brown. Although you could see the resemblance, her and Troy were very different.

Long fingers ran through her brown hair and she stared at the ground. It was going to be hard going to school, she knew it would be. She didn't think she could put herself to sleep. Every time she shut her eye vivid memories played in her head. Memories that haunted her dreams because she knew they were the last things she could remember about her brother, about her family when they had all been together.

Part of her wanted to go back to school because she thought it would be better than staying at home. She hated home. To her, home was now a prison filled with fighting and hate. She would have gone back to school a week earlier, except it had been February break. Her brother had killed himself the Monday before vacation and her parents had made her stay home that week. Two weeks of vacation instead of one.

But, for Casey, the extra week was unwanted.

**I got a lot of people asking for another Troy sibling story. I hope this gets as much recognition and acceptance as my stories with Mack and Calum. Also, if you guys have any ideas, I'll be glad to try and use them in the one shot filled story _Life is a Highway _with them in it. I'll try to post more about them in that now too.**

**So, tell me what you think!**

**Review!**


	2. Chapter One

**Okay, so, here we go. Also, there is slight swearing in this chapter, but under the circumstances I think it's okay.**

**Chapter One - Siblings**

It was a large school, a school in which it was easy to get lost if you weren't paying attention. Casey's feet walked ahead and she couldn't stop them. In and out of hallways that were quiet and empty. Her eyes landed on the red and white banners, the beige lockers; anything around her caught her eye.

She used to be the princess, the goddess in jeans and one of her brother's old sweatshirts. Now, her eyes looked ahead in a daze. Her brown eyes weren't lively, her skin looked sickly. Her arms fell limp by her sides as she walked down a corridor on the third floor.

Her eyes landed on the cracks between tiles on the floor. To her, they were holes, big black holes she wished she could fall into. In the week she'd been back to school she had learned just how much her life had changed.

The people she thought were friends ignored her, almost as if it had been her that attempted suicide instead of her brother. She got stares from teachers. Troy's friends came up to her randomly in the hallways, placing their large hands on her petite shoulders, when Troy couldn't even look at her. She reminded him too much of Dylan, and it hurt him. He had looked up to Dylan and now Troy resented him.

Casey barely opened her mouth anymore. The once talkative spirit she had once had had disappeared and she didn't think it would be back anytime soon. She sat down on the stairs and gazed out the picture window that faced the sports fields. There was a gym class playing soccer, basketball, and any other game the teachers came up with. She watched the tiny people run after a ball.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into the face of Chad. He must have seen her walk by his classroom. Directly behind Chad was Zeke. He looked almost frightened.

"Case, are you okay?" Chad asked, using his nickname for her. No one else called her anything but Casey. Dylan and Troy used to call her 'C', but now that Dylan was gone and Troy didn't speak to her, the name wasn't in use.

Casey nodded her head slowly, not sure if she was okay or not. She didn't feel like anything.

Chad lifted her up and walked with her down the stairs. In her mind she told herself she didn't need him, that she was doing a fine job of getting to her class. But she knew she hadn't. She hadn't really been skipping, she told her teacher where she was going. The bathroom – the third floor bathroom, but she walked right passed it.

"If you need anything, you can talk to me. Okay, Case?" Chad told her when they arrived at the door to her classroom. Room 100, first floor, Ms. Hewett, Honors English for Freshman, or at least that's what it said on her schedule.

"I'm fine, Chad," Casey said, taking the gold doorknob in her hand. "I just needed to take a walk."

"Case," Chad started to say, but Casey cut him off by stepping through the doorway and shutting the brown, wooden door in his face.

All eyes looked up from the writing assignment the class had been given and landed on Casey. She walked to her seat in the back and saw Ms. Hewett scurrying through her drawers. The teacher pulled out a piece of paper and walked toward Casey's desk.

A paper landed on Casey's desk and her eyes read the page. It was a story. Write a three to five page story – although it could be longer, Ms. Hewett always stressed that – about something that interests you. Casey raised an eyebrow.

"It can be anything," Ms. Hewett explained, almost whispering in her ear. "It could be a fantasy, a romance piece, a biography."

Casey didn't look up. A biography, she knew Ms. Hewett was hinting for her to write one about Dylan. She rolled her eyes, teachers were so nosy. If she really wanted to know what happened, she could ask Casey's father, he was one of her coworkers after all.

When the bell rang, Casey sighed. Maybe the writing assignment would be good for her. It would get her mind off of her life and how bad it was at the moment. She stuffed it in her messenger bag before walking slowly out the door and two her next class. Science, just where she wanted to be. That was one thing she hated, listening to Mr. Ackerman talk about rocks.

Instead of taking the needed left to get to the stairs that would take her to the second floor where the science classrooms were, Casey found herself going straight. She walked right to another doorway which held a set of stairs that most students didn't know about. It was her secret hideout.

As she made her way up the stairs she heard smashing of pots and Casey cursed lightly under her breath. Her hideout wasn't secret anymore, someone had found it. She continued up the stairs to find out who was destroying the science club's flowers to see her brother. She watched Troy fling pot after pot at the ground. Some of them didn't break, only the new, glass vases that held bouquets of flowers.

When all the flowers were on the ground Troy collapsed in a fit of tears, his hands landing on pieces of shattered glass. Casey ran toward him and grabbed his hands, taking out the pieces of glass. Her eyes followed Troy's arms up to his face. He was shaking his head and smiling.

"He didn't love us," Troy said, chuckling a cold laugh. "We're all alone, Casey."

"We've got Mom and Dad," she whispered.

"Oh, that's good," Troy said sarcastically. "Mom the over worked who we never see and Dad who's just as bad as us right now. Casey, he can't even go to the store!"

"We have each other," she told him.

Troy shook his head before rolling his eyes. Casey put her arms around him, but he pushed her off him and stood. "No, we don't," Troy told her. "We don't have anyone. I don't have anyone."

He started to storm away. Casey turned and in desperation she yelled, "Troy!" His blue eyes landed on her. "Dylan wouldn't want us to act like this."

Troy's eyes narrowed. "How would you know? Have you been talking to him?" Casey didn't say anything, slightly afraid of Troy's response. "You're just as crazy as Mom and Dad! If Dylan didn't want us acting like this, he wouldn't have done what he did!"

"He was desperate, Troy!" Casey yelled, tears cascading from her eyes. "He loved us! I know he did!"

"How?" Troy asked harshly. "Did you read the note he wrote? Is that how you know?" Troy strode toward her, blood leaking from the slices in his palms. "'To my family, I'm so sorry it had to be this way.' Well, guess what, I don't love him back!"

Troy stomped his feet like a child all the way to the stairs. "You don't mean that," Casey whispered, only loud enough so Troy could barely make out the words.

"Oh, Casey. Naive little Casey, you don't know how much I do mean those words."

"Troy," she said softly, standing and walking toward him.

He walked down the stairs. "Leave me alone, Casey! I'm not in the mood to listen to you defend him."

Anger seized through her body. "It's not his fault!"

"Of course it is!" Troy yelled. "Who do you think it was that put the pills down his throat, huh? It sure as hell wasn't anyone but him! And you know it wasn't an accident! You know he meant it! So, why aren't you blaming him?"

"He felt it was his only way out."

The door opened and three figures came up the stairs to see what all the yelling was about. Ms. Darbus stood in front of the other two. They were teachers Casey didn't know, but she wasn't concerned about them. Troy hadn't finished yelling yet.

"Were you talking to him?" Troy asked. "Did he tell you he felt like killing himself? Did you know and tell him it's okay?"

"I didn't tell him anything," Casey told her brother while looking down at the ground.

"But he told you? How could he not have, he told you everything." Casey didn't answer. Her eyes gazed guiltily at the ground. "Oh my God, he did," Troy said disgustedly. "And you didn't tell anyone! This is all your fault!"

"He didn't want me too," Casey said. "He said he wouldn't do anything, he said he was just thinking about it."

Jack Bolton burst through the doors and into view. "What's going on up here?"

Casey raised her eyes look at Troy. He stared at her with disgust and hatred. When their eyes met, he turned with such force he almost fell over. He started to make his way to the doors, but Jack stood in his way. "Troy, tell me what's wrong."

"Get out of my way," Troy said in a low voice.

"I'm not moving until you tell me what's happening between the two of you!" Jack roared stubbornly.

"Oh, you want to know?" Troy replied. "Ask Casey, she knows everything. And I mean everything!"

Troy pushed his father away, but Jack grabbed his son's shoulders. "Troy!"

"What! What do you want from me, Dad?" Troy asked. "It's Casey you should be asking. She killed Dylan." Troy turned back. "At least, in my mind," he said more to Casey than anyone else.

**So, hmm, how did you like this?**

**Tell me what you think. I would really appreciate it if you told me.**

**Review!**


	3. Chapter Two

**Okay, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. I got a lot of good reviews from the previous ones, so here we go!**

**Chapter Two - Acceptance**

The words replayed in her mind; Casey killed Dylan. They were spoken with so much venom and hate it was hard to believe that Troy had uttered them. Of course, for Casey it wasn't. She knew the changed Troy was so much different than he had been before.

She pushed open the large doors to the cafeteria and felt every eye fall on her. She stood, not moving an inch, letting her eyes scan the room. Every person's head faced her, every eye stared. Her teeth bit down into her dry lip and she put her hand on the cold doorknob, ready to make an escape.

Her eyes glanced to her brother's table. She could see that Troy wasn't, and hadn't, been there, but Chad sat in his normal seat next to Zeke. Jason sat across from him with Kelsi and Ryan on either side of him. Gabriella sat beside Troy's empty chair and Taylor sat in the chair between her and Kelsi.

There was someone else missing, but she didn't have time to figure it out. A hand landed on her shoulder and pushed her out of the room. She wasn't scared because the hand was too small to belong to Troy and she felt long fingernails gently lay on her sweatshirt. When they reached the girls' bathroom, the hand stopped pushing and Casey dared to take a glance back to see the missing person from her brother's table, the missing Evans twin.

Sharpay lifted Casey onto the counter so she could look into her eyes without having to kneel down on the floor, but the younger girl's eyes looked anywhere but Sharpay's. The blond started looking around where Casey was looking and suddenly the light pink wallpaper made her disgusted.

"Casey, please," Sharpay said quietly, placing one of her fingers under the girl's chin. "You can talk to me. I can help you."

Casey's head shook slowly and she looked up. Brown eyes looked into brown eyes. "You wouldn't understand," she whispered, barely loud enough for Sharpay to hear.

"Please, Casey. We're all worried about you-"

"No," Casey interrupted. "Don't worry about me. I brought this on myself. I killed my own brother!"

Sharpay reached forward and enveloped Casey into an embrace, but Casey fell limp. She didn't have the energy to hug back. She want to hug back. She hadn't wanted her brother to die and she hadn't thought he would kill himself, even though he had said he was thinking about it. Casey knew it was because she didn't want to believe it that she didn't tell anyone, now she needed to face the consequences.

Troy hated her, everything about her, and when he told everyone the truth, they'd hate her too. Casey knew she needed to distance herself from Troy and his friends because they wouldn't want anything to do with a cold-blooded murderer like herself. She didn't have to force herself away from her friends. The group she normally hung out with wanted nothing to do with her and now Casey understood why.

Sharpay let go of Casey and picked her up off the counter. Casey hadn't known Sharpay was strong, she had just assumed that she was weak because she didn't do sports, but now that she thought about it, drama could be physically taxing with the props and sets. Casey looked down at herself. Did she just compare herself to a stage set? No, she wasn't heavy like a set.

Casey felt her hand get grabbed and she let her eyes look up at Sharpay. "You can sit with us," the blond girl told her.

Before she had a chance to answer, Casey was being lead down the hall, obediently following Sharpay like a little dog on a leash rushing to keep up with its owner. Sharpay had always been nice to her, ever since the day she had tried to take a little girl's lunch when Casey had been in kindergarten and Casey had stopped her. Sharpay was surprised and said she had spunk. Of course, growing up, being with Casey meant being close to Troy and his gang of popular, basketball 'lunkheads'.

The doors of the cafeteria flew open and Casey's eyes slowly searched the room. When her eyes landed on the table Sharpay was headed to, she immediately found her strength and will to resist the force pulling her. Her eyes frantically looked back to the door, but she saw a group of seniors exiting. She felt caged in and claustrophobic as her body began to shake.

"Casey?" she heard, but she didn't respond. Her eyes were scanning the area for another way out while the eyes of everyone, including the seniors blocking the door, focused on her.

"Casey!" This time it wasn't Sharpay. "Casey!" Chad's voice rang again. Her vision became blurry and all she heard was laughing although no one had their mouths open. Her throat was dry and her airways were closing, making it hard to breath.

"Casey!"

The new voice wasn't filled with the same concerned that Chad's and Sharpay's had been. She recognized it immediately: Troy, the very reason she didn't want to go to the table with Sharpay. She forced herself to move toward the door and pushed the seniors away. She knew who they were, kids on her brother's team, and they looked at her sympathetically. She didn't get it; she was a murderer, why did people care about her so much?

Her legs took her down hallways, rushing through corridors. She heard the sound of footsteps behind her which made her run faster. She didn't know where she was going, but instead let her feet carry her away. When she had reached an older part of the school that hardly anyone went to, she stopped and sat on the ground.

The bell rang, signaling that it was time for the next class, but Casey didn't move. As tears fell from her brown eyes, she pulled her knees to her chest. She hadn't wanted Dylan to die, just like everyone else. He had told her in complete secrecy that he was thinking about taking too many of his pills. At the time, she hadn't realized that what he had said might have been a cry for help, and she did nothing. Now, Dylan was dead, Troy hated her, and her mother hadn't been seen for days leaving her father with the task of raising two grieving teenagers.

Casey rocked herself back and forth. She knew her mother wasn't coming back. When she had been in bed the night before, she'd heard small sounds of opening and closing closets and drawers. That morning, she had searched her parents' room before heading to school and almost all of her mother's most treasured things were gone.

Pulling her sleeve over her hand, Casey brought it to her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks. The skin on her face was still damp from the river that had escaped her eyes. She crawled into a corner and leaned against the wall, laying her head down carefully. She hadn't meant for this to happen. She hadn't wanted Dylan to die.

"Okay, Casey," she whispered to herself. "You can't cry. It makes you weak and if you're a killer, you're not weak. You killed your brother, get used to it."

She shut her eyelids over the soft brown eyes that she used to share with Dylan. Growing up, when everyone else had been envious of Troy's bright blue eyes, she loved hers. She had never wanted Troy's eyes. She felt that her eyes were the best part about her. Now she wished she could peck the life out of them. They were Dylan's and she didn't deserve them.

Her hands fell to the ground beside her and she pushed herself up. In a subconscious state, Casey began walking down hallways. With each step she became more unaware of the world around her, until she was just there. Her world fell apart and it was entirely her fault. She had killed Dylan by not telling. She had destroyed her relationship with Troy. Single-handedly she had ruined life for not only herself, but everyone around her that loved Dylan.

The bell rang as she strolled down the hallway but she didn't notice. She just kept walking, walking until there was not place left for her to go.

**Alright, so how was that? Was it good?**

**Tell me what you're thinking, good or bad.**

**Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more.**

**Review!**


	4. Chapter Three

**Okay, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter Three - Running**

Jack sensed tension at the dinner table as he glanced up from his half empty plate to see his two children picking at the mound of mashed potatoes or pushing a piece of meat around in a circle with their fork. He coughed purposely as if it was going to get their attention before speaking. "So," he stated. "How was school?"

Casey shrugged, but her eyes didn't lift from her plate and she continued to push the meat around the plate. Troy stood and threw his fork on his plate, making the glass smash and the fork fly to the floor. Troy tried to walk away, but Jack reached forward and grabbed onto his son.

"How was school?" he asked stubbornly, slightly angered by Troy's behavior.

"It was great," Troy replied with sarcasm. "I had a blast in history!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Clean up the mess," he ordered, pointing to the array of broken glass on the small, wooden table. Troy reached over, but a large slice on Troy's palm caught Jack's eyes. "What's that?"

"It's nothing," Troy said quietly.

Jack looked from Troy to Casey. His daughter was unusually quiet and her eyes hadn't looked up from her lap the entire dinner. Troy had been quiet too, until the end when he broke the plate. Jack found himself leaning across the table and flipping Troy's hand over to see the gash.

It was red and Jack could tell it was starting to get infected. "What happened?" he asked, more concerned than angry. He looked up at Troy, now very frightened. He had just lost his oldest son and now, just weeks later, Troy had a slice on the palm of his hand. "Troy?"

"It's not what you think!" Troy yelled, his cheeks flushed with anger. "Ugh! I've been getting those looks everywhere! Just because Dylan killed himself doesn't mean I will. I'm not Dylan!"

Casey lifted her eyes up for a moment to see Troy storm from the room. The glass still lay on the table and Jack had stood to follow Troy. None of them had heard the door open because of Troy's outburst. Jack was met at the doorway by his wife, holding a folder under her arm.

"Elizabeth," Jack said, trying to shield her view.

"What happened?" she exclaimed, pushing passed Jack to examine the broken plate. She lifted a large chunk of blue glass from the table before looking to Casey. "Oh, sweetie, you weren't hurt were you?"

Casey shook her head, but Elizabeth had missed it. She had already turned her attention back to Jack. "I left them here thinking they'd be safe! What happened, Jack?"

Jack's eyes found their way to the tiles of the floor. "Troy..."

"Troy," Elizabeth repeated agitated. "Troy did this? Jack! He's grieving, you have to be careful what you say!"

"I just asked about school!" Jack yelled at her, moving toward her with his arms raised. "I didn't think he'd react like that!"

Casey found herself glued to her seat and unable to move as her parents fought over whose fault the broken plate was. She felt guilty none of this would have happened if Dylan had been alive. She let her eyes gaze down at the floor and she tuned her parents' yelling voices.

There was a loud slam of papers hitting the table and Casey's head jerked up. Elizabeth was pulling a piece of paper out of the stack. Jack sat in his chair and put his head in his hands before looking up with pain in his eyes.

"You can't move to Oregon," he said quietly.

"I can, and I will," she replied. "My family's there. They'll be in good care."

"Who are 'they'?" Jack asked.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Casey and Troy of course."

Casey slid from her chair unnoticed by either of her parents and hid behind the door so she could hear but not be seen. She crouched down low and placed her ear to the door. Her parents had begun fighting again, but this time it was because her mother wanted to bring her and Troy to Oregon. Casey couldn't picture herself living in Oregon. Whenever she visited her family there, she always felt out of place.

"What are they bickering about now?"

She turned to see Troy standing behind her, his eyes looking at the two adults in the other room. She followed where his eyes were and watched her parents for a moment before answering. "Mom's moving," she said quietly.

"I thought she already moved out," Troy voiced.

Casey shrugged and her eyes fell to the floor. "She's moving to Portland, and she wants to bring us."

Troy's hands were clenched in a fist and his knuckles were white. "There is no way I moving there," Troy said, anger in his voice. He turned on Casey. "And I bet you're just ecstatic! You kill Dylan and you get to move and get away from everything."

"I don't want to move either."

Troy snorted. "Oh, yeah, because you have so many friends here, right Casey?"

Casey felt tears form in her eyes. Troy's words had broken through her tough barrier, even though she knew they were true. She didn't have any friends, and if she moved she'd make knew friends. But, for some reason, she wanted to stay in Albuquerque.

"What? Is little Casey crying?" Troy asked, clearly not concerned.

"Shut up," she whispered.

"What was that?" Troy knelt down so he was eye level with his sister. He was smirking and Casey couldn't stand it.

"I said shut up!" she yelled before pushing Troy into the wall.

Troy lifted himself from the wall and gave Casey a look. Casey knew that look, the 'I hate you' look. He walked toward her, and it wasn't until that moment that Casey noticed how much he towered over her small body. He lower lip trembled in fear or not knowing what Troy would do.

"Troy!" Jack yelled, entering the room slightly behind Elizabeth. "Go upstairs," he ordered. Troy didn't move. "Now!"

The anger rushing through his body was apparent as he stormed away. Elizabeth moved toward Casey with her hand reached out toward her daughter. "Come on, Casey, you can come with me."

Casey's body started taking deep breaths and right as her mother placed one of her long, bony hands on her shoulder, she backed away. She didn't want to go with her mother, the mother that left without warning.

Hurt shone in Elizabeth's eyes, but Casey just kept backing up until she hit the wall behind her. Jack stepped forward and put a hand on Elizabeth's forearm, placing it at her side.

"I think it's time you go," Jack whispered, aware that Casey's actions had broken Elizabeth's heart.

Elizabeth blinked once before turning with her head raised. As quietly as she had walked in, she walked out. Casey let her eyes focus on the hardwood floor beneath her. The small click of the door shutting brought her head back up. Her eyes looked into her father's and he looked at her questioningly. Without saying a word, Casey ran for the back door.

"Casey!" Jack yelling, chasing after her. He stopped when she rushed through the gate of the backyard and started to run down the street.

It was pitch black outside and Casey could barely see where her feet were taking her. She felt safe letting her feet guide her because they had walked the ground before and her mind was so scattered with feelings and memories, she didn't know what was happening. It was all a blur.

She passed houses with lights on, cars in the driveways, a couple with for sale signs. The streets were almost empty, every once and a while a car would pass, but Casey didn't stop. One foot in front of the other, down sidewalks and around corners. When she stopped, she found herself in front of her own house. She jumped over the fence in the back and climbed up the tree to her window. She didn't want anyone to know she was back. She imagined that her father would be mad, but she knew that wasn't the whole reason.

Her brain was just too scattered to figure out the rest.

**So, how did you like it?  
**

**Review!**


	5. Chapter Four

**Alrighty, thanks for reviewing! Here's the next bit.**

**Chapter Four – Nathan **

"Oh, he is so cute!" Casey heard as she walked down the hallway to her first class. Curiosity took over her body and instead of walking away, she turned back. The two girls who had been talking were right. The boy couldn't have been much older than she was with shaggy dirty blond hair and a sweatshirt that read 'GHS'. He was holding a map of the school which meant he was new and probably lost.

The bell rang and Casey rolled her eyes. She wasn't planning on going to class, so it didn't matter if she hurried or not. It was only homeroom, to her a pointless class. The only thing she did in that class was sit and doodle while Mrs. Finburg explained whatever came in the e-mail to them.

"Hey!"

She turned around and saw the cute, new kid walking toward her. There was no one else in the hallway, so she assumed he was yelling at her. She groaned because she knew he was going to ask her to give him directions.

"Do you know where Mrs. Finburg's room is?" he asked. He gave her a nervous smile and she stared at him. She didn't care if he was new, to her he looked like a movie star, and he wanted to talk to her. She ignored the fact that there was no one else around.

Then her heart sank. She couldn't talk to him. She was a horrible person, she killed her brother! She put on her best 'I don't care' face and tried to make her voice sound snobby and icy, like Sharpay's had been like.

"Why don't you look at your map?" she asked in her 'Sharpay' voice.

"Well, I would," he replied cheekily. "But, it doesn't have a room number."

Casey grabbed the paper from his hands and examined it. Homeroom – Mrs. Finburg, and that was it. She shook her head, somewhat ashamed of the office for not giving the homeroom number on the schedule.

"Room 115," she told him flatly before turning her back on him.

He ran after her and started walking beside her. "I'm Nathan." She didn't reply, but he kept walking beside her. "So, you're not going to give me a name."

"If I were you," she said, stopping to look at him in the face. Her eyes stared into his. "I wouldn't want anything to do with me."

"So what, you're skipping," Nathan scoffed. "It's not like you killed someone."

She raised one of her dark eyebrows. "I wouldn't be too confident in that statement," she told him before walking off. She could feel Nathan's body walking next to hers, and she tried to ignore it.

"I've killed lobsters," he told her with a smile. She looked at him with seriousness etched in her face. "Okay, that wasn't funny. But, you aren't the type to kill someone. And, if you did, you'd be in jail, not wandering a school."

"Casey!"

Nathan smiled. "So that's your name," he said quietly as Casey's father approached.

"What are you doing wandering the halls?" Jack questioned.

Casey sighed. "I'm showing Nate to his class. He's new."

Jack nodded to Nathan before kissing Casey on the top of her head. "Stay out of trouble," he told her before walking off. Nathan chuckled.

"Are all the teachers around here that friendly?"

"That's my father," Casey told him before starting to walk again. Nathan looked back quickly at Coach Bolton before joining Casey. The two walked in silence until they reached a room. "Here you go."

"Where are you going?" Nathan asked.

Casey shrugged and Nathan stood beside her. "Homeroom's almost over," she told him. "You mine as well not even go inside."

Nathan put his hands in his pockets. "So, where do we go?"

"Look," Casey said. "I'm just trying to protect you. I have a reputation around here and if you hang out with me, you'll have it too. I'm a social outcast, believe me, and unless you only want me as a friend, find someone else."

The bell rang and students filed out of the classrooms. Casey turned to get lost in the current of students and Nathan rushed after her. He pushed kids aside but she was gone. The sound of a door shutting hit his ear and he made his way over to it. It was a door that led to a staircase. He pushed it open and let his feet climb the stairs. Sitting on a bench next to an empty shelf was Casey.

"Are you trying to commit social suicide?" she asked, her voice choking slightly at the word suicide.

"Casey, you can't be that bad," he told her, sitting beside her on the bench.

"You're new," she said, looking at her hands. "You don't know anything."

"I will if you tell me," he said, grabbing one of her hands in his own. He looked at her, genuinely concerned. She pulled her hand back.

"You won't be so nice if I tell you what I've done," Casey whispered. "Plus, you should really get to class." She grabbed his schedule. "Oh, we have it together. I'll lead you there."

Casey jumped up and ran down the stairs. Nathan walked slower, watching Casey curiously. He had never seen someone act so mysterious one moment and so jumpy the next. Maybe she really had done something wrong.

"Sorry we're late," Casey told the teacher when they arrived. "Mr. Matsui called me down to guide Nathan to his class. They hadn't quite finished talking when I got there," she said.

"Ah, yes," the teacher said, taking Nathan's papers. "Class, this is Nathan Hillier. Treat him kindly."

"Why would Matsui want Bolton to guide him?" one of the girls whispered when Nathan walked passed. "I mean, it's not like she's a perfect student."

"Maybe he thinks it'll help her," the girl behind the first girl said. "Everyone knows she needs it."

Nathan sat in the empty desk. The girls hadn't sounded mean, but worried, when they had talked about Casey. From what she had told him on the bench, he thought they'd say something awful. He watched Casey for the rest of the class. She mostly stared out the window, as if she didn't know what to do. She confused him.

**So, there, you guys have met Nathan. What do you think?**

**Review.**


	6. Chapter Five

**Okay, thanks for the reviews! They are very much appreciated. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 5 - Warming**

East High School was a confusing place. There were secret hallways and shortcuts that you needed to take. Freshmen ate lunch on the porch, even when it was cold, and they didn't buy lunch – they just didn't. The kids had their groups and they didn't generally intermingle. Nathan had figured out most of them by his last block class.

There was the group that liked to study, which was headed by a small blond girl whose name he didn't know. The musicians all sat together, although they were an odd looking group. There were a few kids that looked like skateboarding Tony Hawk wannabes, along kids that wore dress clothes and had reeds sticking out of their mouths. There were the kids he just assumed were the geeks, their group was small and they all had straws up their noses.

Then, the sports teams. They seemed to not have a strict seating plan in the cafeteria, but instead they went from table to table. The football players all had red and white letterman jackets. The soccer team wore sweatshirts that read 'EHS' with a soccer ball. There were kids with track jackets that had all types of sports on the back, but they were typically the same, EHS in red and a symbol for the sport underneath it.

There was one table in the middle with a group of kids that were wearing white jackets with a red wildcat on the back. This was the basketball team, but their table wasn't just sports. It had girls that weren't cheerleaders at it.

East High was different than his old high school, and it baffled Nathan. Each school had to work differently. Each place had their own set of rules, East High was no different.

But, what made his head hurt was Casey. She seemed sweet, but distant, as if something tragic had ruined her life. When she looked at him, it was almost as if she was staring through his body to something else. And she thought the students didn't like her, that she had a reputation.

He stood in the doorway of his class and found Casey sitting the the back near a window. Something inside him told him to run. It told him that Casey was bad news and he shouldn't get involved. But, the same thing was telling him that he needed to help her.

"Hey," he said enthusiastically as he sat in the vacant seat beside her. She turned her head to look at him, but then faced the window as she had been.

"You're not going to quit, are you?" she asked quietly.

Nathan didn't reply to her question. "What are you doing after school?" he asked. She turned to him and gave him a look. "Good. You can show me around."

"Nathan, I-"

"Ms. Bolton," the teacher said. She was stout with curly gray hair and had to be far past normal retirement age. "Is there a problem between you and, Mr. Hillier I assume?"

Nathan gave a small smile of both approval and embarrassment while Casey's eyes wandered to the floor, her cheeks reddening from being singled out. "No," she said quietly.

"Then, I believe this is my time. Now, last night's homework. . . ."

Nathan looked around as the students pulled out their homework. He didn't have anything to do, so he pulled out a piece of paper he'd gotten in science and started to doodle as the teacher began to explain to a girl in the front about polynomials.

A crumpled piece of notebook paper landed on his desk and very discreetly, he opened it. _Fine, I'll show you around, if you really want me to – Casey._

_I do _he wrote back before passing it when the teacher wasn't looking. He knew this teacher didn't like note passing, just by his first impression of her. Within moments, the note landed on his desk.

_Do you have a cell? Texting would be safer than passing notes with Ms. Turcotte. I don't even think she knows cellphones exist._

He smiled. Casey was warming up to him, or she was really bored. Either way, he wrote the seven digits of his cellphone number on the paper and sent it back. Then, just to make sure he wouldn't get in trouble, he put the phone on vibrate.

A few minutes later, his phone giggled in his hand. He flipped it open and read the messing that appeared on the small screen.

_You're persistent. Did you know that?_

He flashed a smile toward Casey before typing in his response. _Yeah, so I've been told._

_Where do you want to go? _She wrote. _We've got a fun place here in sunny New Mexico._

_Where ever you want to take me? I don't know where I'm going. I'm new._

"Ms. Bolton!"

Nathan pressed the send button even as he looked up at the teacher. Casey lifted her head up from her phone and silently slipped it in her pocket. "Yes, Ms. Turcotte," she said quietly.

"I do realize that you've had a tough time lately, but when you're in my classroom, I would appreciate it if you pay attention and not stare off!" Ms. Turcotte said sternly. "Ms. Waynes, your answer for number 23, please."

_Harsh. _Nathan typed in.

Casey didn't reply. Instead she was doodling on a piece of paper. For a moment, Nathan thought she had begun to tune out the world around her again, but after she finished her picture she took a picture of it and sent it to Nathan.

All in all, the drawing looked more like a cow than a person. It was a large circle with a gray and white dress and a huge head. A thought bubble was coming from the mouth that read, "moo!" Under the drawing she had written Lucinda Turcotte – mother of all cows.

Nathan chuckled, but quickly regretted it. "Mr. Hillier! Nothing about the art of mathematics is funny! I realize that this is your first day, but laughing is not okay."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. His old math teacher had been fun, but this new teacher seemed like a witch. He looked up at the clock and groaned when he realized that there was another forty-five minutes left. He was really beginning to hate math. It was his last class and also the longest by five minutes.

He leaned back in his chair and watched as Ms. Turcotte wrote equations on the blackboard. It squeaked and Nathan thought he was in a old 1950's movie. Last block definitely wasn't going to be a favorite for him. He would have much rather been still in his last class conjugating Spanish verbs.

I don't like math. _No me gusta matematicas. _

He looked over to his right to see Casey almost asleep.

Math bores Casey. _Le aburre matematicas. _

He put his head in his hands. If Casey was warming up to him, she would be his first friend in Albuquerque. His eyes followed the hands on the clock. He couldn't wait for math to be over, then he could find out more about Casey. She seemed like she needed a friend too.

**Now, the real question is how much will she tell him and will she tell him the truth? Hmm...**

**So, tell me what you think.**

**And, constructive criticism is _always_ accepted. I will never get offended if you question something I do, because I feel when you question it improves my writing skill and my overall ability as a writer. So, if you have anything you want to say, say it because I'm no good at reading minds!**

**Review!**


	7. Chapter Six

**Okay, this is long overdue, but I keep forgetting the disclaimer. Dumb me. So, as if anyone doesn't already know, I don't own HSM. The only thing I own in this story is Nathan, and the character Casey but definitely not her family, the Boltons are sadly property of Disney not me.**

**So, now that that was said. Here we go.**

**Oh, and I think I conjugated the verbs slightly wrong in the last chapter. So, don't go by those sentences. They should really be 'no me gustan matematicas' and 'le aburren matematicas' because matematicas is plural. Or maybe I'm just delusional. I'm just a student.**

**Wow, long note.**

**Chapter 6 - Walking**

"So," Nathan said as he and Casey walked out the front doors of East High. "Where are we going?"

Casey shrugged and kept walking through the grass. There were cars leaving the parking lot like it was on fire and kids running around, excited that school was over. It reminded Nathan of his old school. He chuckled softly, kids would be kids.

"Why did you move here anyway?" Casey asked, somewhat startling Nathan because he didn't expect her to speak.

"My mom got transferred," Nathan said, picking up a rock off the ground. He looked at it before throwing it at a nearby stop sign. "It happens when she's a major part of a company."

"Where did you live before?"

Nathan smiled. Casey was talking, a big improvement from earlier that day. It was as if she was an entirely different person. "Massachusetts, Gloucester to be specific. It's a nice place, right on the water. A fishing port, you know? We had a house with a dock to the ocean, a little cove a guess. My dad's a fisherman."

"I've never been fishing," Casey told him, kicking some dirt with her foot. "Actually, I've barely been out of New Mexico, and as you can see, there's no ocean here."

"But, you've been to the ocean before, right?" Nathan asked.

Casey shook her head and Nathan almost collapsed with surprise.

"You're kidding right?" When Casey shook her head once more, Nathan believed her. "Well, when we go back this summer you are so coming too. I can't believe it! Have you ever had a lobster?"

"We don't really eat seafood," Casey told him, slightly embarrassed.

Nathan flashed her a big smile. "It's great, but enough about me. What about you?"

Casey started to walk faster. "What about me?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. I told you all about my family. Have you lived here forever?"

"Born and raised," Casey told him, holding up her arms to point to the trees they were passing. "My family, or at least my dad's side, has been in Albuquerque as far back as anyone wants to remember."

"And your dad works at East High, right?" Nathan asked, remembering earlier that day when Jack had stopped them in the halls.

Casey nodded. "Science teacher and varsity boys basketball coach."

"What about your mom?"

Casey looked down at her feet and Nathan grabbed the back of his neck nervously. He was about to open his mouth and tell her that she didn't need to answer if she didn't want to, but she beat him to it. "My mother is never around. Now she's moving to Oregon and I say good riddance!"

"Oh, come on Casey! She's your mom!"

"She was never there for anything important," Casey whispered, kicking a rock across the sidewalk.

It was quiet for a moment as they walked. Only the sound of a car whizzing down the side-street was heard. Nathan adjusted the backpack on his shoulders, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't hurt her. "So, do you have any siblings?"

Casey didn't answer immediately. She didn't know if she wanted to tell Nathan about Dylan. He was the only person that payed any attention to her, and if he knew that the person that she killed was her brother, she might lose that.

"Yeah, I have a hotheaded brother named Troy," she told him. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. "He's a senior. What about you?"

"A little sister, Natalie, she's seven," Nathan replied. He looked ahead. "My house is right up here. Do you want to come in?"

"Oh, um, Nathan-"

"Great!" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward his home. She rolled her eyes and let him pull her, knowing he wasn't going to let her go. Truthfully, she kind of liked it. He was her friend and he made her forget about her problems, about what she did to Dylan.

"I'm home!" Nathan yelled when they walked through the door.

"Nathan!" they heard a high pitched voice yell. A small blond girl ran into the hallway Nathan and Casey were in. She stopped in front of the two teens and Casey assumed she was Natalie. She looked at Casey and her eyes fell down the older girl's arm to the hand that was still being held by Nathan's. Casey pulled her hand away quickly.

"You must be Nathan's new friend," came a new voice from the doorway to what must have been the kitchen. Casey looked up to see a tall, thin woman with dark hair and kind eyes.

"Yeah, Mom, Nat, this is Casey. Casey, this is my mom and my sister," Nathan said, introducing her to his family.

"It's nice to meet you," Casey said politely.

"You're pretty," Natalie told her. Casey looked down at her feet and bit her lip.

The house was still filled with boxes, but there were pictures on the walls and furniture to sit on. Nathan excused them and they walked up the stairs. On the wall were pictures of Nathan and Natalie as well as people she didn't know.

When Nathan opened the door to his room he let her walk in first. There were sports posters hung up on the walls and near boxes littering the floor. There was a soccer ball on the floor near the entrance and a lacrosse stick on the bed.

"So, I take it you're a sports dude, huh," Casey said, picking up the lacrosse stick.

"Just a little," Nathan laughed, grabbing the dirty stick from her hands. "Are you a basketball girl?"

Casey shook her head. "No, basketball's not my thing. That's for the boys. I'm a field hockey chick," she told him before grabbing the green stick back from him. "And a lax girl."

"Oh," Nathan said with a smile. "So, you play lacrosse too, huh? I bet I'm better."

Casey raised her eyebrows playfully. "You've never seen me play. Us Boltons kick butt in everything we do. My brother just won the Mr. Basketball for the third year in a row."

"Sounds impressive," Nathan said, sitting on the bed.

"It is," she said laughing, remembering that Nathan didn't know about the various awards given to student athletes.

Casey smiled and sat down next to Nathan on the bed. She looked back at him to find that he was smiling too. She liked having someone to talk to, to fool around with. She liked having a friend.

**So, how did you like it?**

**Review!**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Okay, here's chapter because I had no homework tonight! Yes! Cheers for me!**

**Chapter 7 - Truth**

The sound of shattering glass on tile floor filled Casey's ears. She curled herself up tighter on the couch and pressed her nose into the book she was holding. She knew the glass was the vase, the special vase Troy and Dylan had made for her mother one Mother's Day.

"Troy," she heard her father say from the other room. Casey focused her vision on the book in her hands. She was never going to finish the chapter for her English class with the racket her brother was making.

Sometimes, like now, she wanted to strangle Troy. And, as guilty as it made her feel, she wished it had been him that was dead. Not just because she was closer to Dylan, but because she knew Dylan would have taken it better that Troy was. Dylan would have respected Troy's wishes, if it had been Troy.

"No! I don't want to play basketball! Can't you see that!"

Casey pulled herself off the couch and walked to the doorway, hiding behind the green walls so neither her brother or her father could see her. Another smash was heard and the picture of her, Troy, and Dylan at the ski lodge in Colorado was on the floor.

"Troy, you're just pushing yourself away. We're trying to help. You need to grieve," Jack said quietly.

Troy's upper lip curled. "Grieve? Why would I want to grieve him?" he asked with venom dripping from his words.

Casey felt hot tears fill her eyes. She had done this, she had singlehandedly destroyed her brother kind and thoughtful persona. In not telling what she knew, she broke one brother's heart and shattered the other's life. But, even if it was her fault, she didn't want Troy to talk about Dylan as if he were a bug.

"Troy, please, stop!" she scream from the doorway. "Can't you see? You're just hurting everyone more!"

Troy turned on Casey, his eyes narrowed so she was barely able to see the blue.

"Casey, I can handle this," Jack muttered softly, as if he was annoyed Casey had added her comment.

"You know what?" Troy inched forward until he was standing close enough for her to feel his hot breath. "Go out to the highway, and get run over by a truck. You aren't wanted, not anymore you little murderer!"

"You're just scared you'll do the same thing he did!" Casey yelled at him, not quite sure what was coming out of her mouth. "You afraid that you're going to end up like him because you always did everything he did! You were always his shadow, and now your shadow's gone. What are you going to do know, big bro?"

"Casey!" Jack yelled, trying to regain order. But, his tries were in vain. He had lost any control he had over his children long before. Troy lifted his fist up to hit her across the face when Jack grabbed hold of him. Casey didn't care one way or the other if Troy attacked her, she just liked to see Troy squirm.

"Casey, go upstairs. Now!" Jack told her, keeping a firm grip on his son, who was desperately trying to get away. Casey merely nodded before turning her back.

"Casey, I swear on Dylan's grave, the two of you will rot in Hell together!" Troy shouted at her retreating back.

She heard the soft pattering of her socks on the stairs as she climbed. She walked in her room and grabbed the first thing she could find. She held the picture of Dylan and Troy she kept by her bed as she walked looked outside. Then, suddenly consumed by her anger, she threw it out the window onto the patio below. She heard the breaking of the frame and the glass that protected the picture when it hit the cement.

Her eyelids covered her brown eyes and she took a deep breath. She wasn't any better than Troy. They both had tempers that stuck quickly, but she knew Troy's outburst hadn't been sudden. What he said was what he felt, she saw it in his facial features. She heard the hate in his voice.

She searched her room and found her lacrosse stick. She ran down the stairs and out the door without being noticed. Taking the stick in her hand with her red ball in the pocket, she chucked the ball as hard as she could at the brick house. It bounced off and she caught it with ease before winging the ball back toward the bricks.

It helped with her anger toward her brother, but it didn't heal the wound he'd cause. The words he'd told her repeated in her head, haunting her thoughts. When she died, she wasn't going to heaven, but down below into the underworld. Any thoughts of happiness or cheerfulness after spending a day with Nathan had left her mind, replaced with Troy's negative words.

Casey fell to the ground, laying in the green grass. She looked up at the stars and watched them twinkle. Maybe she'd skip her classes the next day. She didn't feel like going. She ruined her family, how was she supposed to go to school with that on her shoulders?

She took a deep breath. Nathan. She needed to tell him the awful things she'd done to her family before he his high school career was destroyed by her. She didn't need another thing added to her long list of mistakes. Plus, if she saw Nathan happy with some friends of his own and away from her – and any chance of getting hurt by her – she would be happy for him. Although she did like having him as a friend, she knew that sometimes the best thing to do is to let go.

The phone rang in her pocket and subconsciously she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey! Casey, it's Nathan. About the science homework-"

Casey's breath caught. It was Nathan. She needed to tell him, and now was as good a time as any. She knew it was better for him to join another group. She knew the kids on the lacrosse team would take him in like one of their own. That's how East High worked, if you played you were family.

"Casey? Are you listening? Question 2 says-"

"Nathan," she cut him off in a small voice. "There's something I need to tell you."

A chuckle came from the other line. "Okay, if you're going to tell me you're no good at science, I'm seriously going to laugh. Your dad's a science teacher, it's like in your genes!"

A tear fell down Casey's cheek and landed on the grass. She sniffled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Casey?" Nathan asked, clearly concerned. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"

"Nathan, I killed my brother."

**So, she told him.**

**Review! I'll be very happy if you do:)**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Okay, so, here's the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Chapter 8 - Hurt**

There was silence on the other end of the phone as hot tears cascaded down Casey's cheeks. Unable to handle Nathan's quiet reaction, she flipped her phone which ended the call. She placed her hands on her face and continued to cry. She was a murderer, she didn't deserve friends. And Nathan was pushy, why did she need him anyway?

Because he saw her for her. He didn't like her because her last name was Bolton. He had liked her before he even knew about Troy. She pulled her legs up close to her body and hugged them tightly. She heard another loud crash from inside the house.

"I wonder what the neighbors are thinking," she said quietly.

Her phone rang softly on the ground beside her and, knowing it was Nathan, she let it ring. She didn't want to hear what he had to say.

When the phone stopped ringing, she turned it off and slid it in her pocket. She stood and walked toward the house, standing quietly on the patio for a moment before going inside. Her father was yelling at her brother, so she walked with caution on her way to the stairs.

She took a breath in as a pain erupted in the bottom of her bare foot. She looked down to see that she had stepped in the remains of a plate Troy had broken earlier. Blood started to encircle her feet and she sat down in a chair. The glass had sliced her foot right open and a piece was lodged inside.

"Casey?"

Her eyes wandered toward the source of the voice. Her father looked awful, both angry and tired. Troy stood beside him, a smirk tugging at the sides of his lips as he looked at the blood and glass on the floor. Casey looked at the tiles. On the floor, a puddle formed under her foot.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"I stepped in the glass," she told him quietly.

Troy sniggered cruelly. "Serves you right."

Jack groaned at his children's interactions and leaned his head back. Casey knew it had been a long night for him, arguing with Troy. Her brother took another look at her before exiting the same way she had entered. His sneaker made the glass break into even smaller shards. Jack turned to Casey.

"Next time wear shoes," he muttered softly before running out after Troy, slightly afraid of what the boy would do.

The pain of the four words hit Casey hard. It was as if her father was more concerned with Troy's attention-seeking behavior than her bleeding foot. She lifted herself off the chair and hopped on one foot to the cupboard where they kept the towels. She wrapped it around her foot and within moments the white towel was splattered with red.

She limped to keep the pressure off her foot as she made her way back to the glass. The least she could to was help her father out and clean the mess. It was her blood, not his. She took a dust pan and brushed the glass into it before cleaning the blood with damp paper towels.

She sat down on the floor with her back against the cabinets and unwrapped the towel from her foot. She needed to get the piece of glass out. In her fingers, Casey grabbed the large chunk and yanked. She winced and reapplied the towel.

Casey stood and walked to their 'catch-all' table in the kitchen. This was were most school notices, pieces of forgotten homework, mail, and reminder notes generally fell. Her eyes scanned the table, landing on a large folder. She picked it up and scanned the paperwork.

What she found didn't surprise her. Her mother was filing for a divorce and as part, her father would keep the house but she'd receive full custody. Casey raised an eyebrow. Why would her father place it on the 'catch-all' table? Maybe he didn't want to think about it, or maybe he wanted to get rid of them. Maybe he'd had too much of Troy and wasn't in the mood to fight to keep them. Casey knew just as well as Jack did that Elizabeth was going to hire the best lawyer she could find.

She sighed and placed it back on the table. Either way, she knew her mother would win. What ever Elizabeth wanted, she received. Casey wanted to stay in Albuquerque, but now that she had no friends again, living in Oregon didn't seem so bad either.

The door slammed shut and she glanced back quickly. Troy grabbed a basketball off the floor and turned to go outside. Half way out the door, he turned to look at her then to the ball in his hand. He pretended to throw it at her, making her duck.

He started to laugh before running outside, happy that she thought he was going to throw the ball at her. She let her eyes look at the table. Under a pile of mail was a number next to her mother's name. Carefully checking over her shoulders, she reached down and took the small note in her hand, not even looking at it before stuffing it in the pocket of her jeans.

That would be her backup number. If she needed to get away, she could call her mother. Not that she wanted to, she really couldn't careless about her mother, but it was Troy she was worried about. She knew Troy hated her. She knew it was hard enough for her father to care for Troy, let alone two kids who needed attention. Plus, she didn't have anyone to fall back on, yet Troy had almost everyone.

Of course, it didn't seem far to her that all of Troy's friends comforted him in his time of need and all of hers left, not sure what to say. When she went back to school, her former best friends told her they were dreadfully sorry and Casey had tried to stay quiet. Troy's closest friends called once they found the news, took him out to deal with it. Hers had made a letter out of a piece of loose leaf paper the day she came back and gave her sympathetic glances when they weren't trying to walk down the hallways without her seeing them.

But, Troy was never the brother to Casey that Dylan was. Dylan was the big brother to both, never playing favorites. Troy constantly followed Dylan, telling Casey to back off. "It's a brothers only day today," had been a common statement in elementary school. She found out years later that Troy had told Dylan that she had to do something when he asked where she was.

She looked down at her foot. The bleeding had basically stopped, but it still had an awful stinging sensation. Casey was sure Troy would kill her in her sleep if he had the chance, and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of strangling her.

**So, that was a Casey chapter. Nathan's in the next one.**

**Hope you liked it!  
**

**Review!**


	10. Chapter Nine

**Sorry for the long wait. My 3rd quarter grades close soon and I need to get my math grade up. Plus, Monday was the first day of spring sports, so the lacrosse season has started.**

**I hope you like this.**

**Chapter 9 - Friends**

If there was something Nathan hated it was being alone, and being alone in East High wasn't fun. Not only was the school big, but it had too many cliques. He looked around trying to find someone to sit with because Casey wasn't in any of their classes. He was beginning to think that she really had done something.

But, it didn't make any sense. Casey was a regular kid. She was shy, but some people are shy, there wasn't a problem with that. Plus, he'd seen Coach Bolton, so she couldn't have skipped. She had to be there, somewhere.

He looked around and couldn't help feel like he was being growled at. Yes, he liked Casey's company so much better than being completely alone. His eyes scanned the cafeteria for someplace to sit that didn't have violin bows on the seats or open books covering more table than the food did. It was exactly the same set up. Nerds, drama, band, brains, skaters, and various other groups. He passed one group that looked like they were Martha Stewart clones.

There was one table that wasn't glaring or giving him looks and that was where the jocks were sitting. He merely looked on for a minute. There were about five tables with kids in lettermen jackets or sweatpants that said their sport, their name, and their number.

He raised his eyebrows. Casey's story hadn't made sense in the beginning, but now it was impossible. Not only did the jocks look as if nothing was wrong, he saw someone that had a sweatshirt that read BOLTON on the back. If Casey killed her brother like she said she had, why was he sitting at the table?

The boy Nathan assumed was Troy turned so Nathan could see his face. He looked different than Casey, but there was one thing that screamed siblings. Their smiles, the way their eyes squinted slightly when they were happy. Now that he was sure Casey had lied, Nathan was more confused than ever and also standing in the middle of the cafeteria alone.

He walked out of the room and down various hallways. He knew one spot that he could go and think without being interrupted by the chatter of the cafeteria. It had been the place where he had chased Casey when he first met her. He would go there and try to figure out why Casey would tell him something so preposterous.

His fingers fell on the doorknob and he pulled it, not sure if he was even allowed up there. At the moment, he didn't care. He just needed to think. His feet jumped up the stairs two at a time, but froze when he reached the top. Sitting on the bench was Casey.

Her eyes lifted from her hands, which she had placed in her lap, and stared into his. Her dark hair was in two braids on either side of her head and her big brown eyes made her look so innocent. Nathan put his backpack down on the floor and walked closer to her.

"It's my fault," she told him quietly.

"I don't understand," he said, sitting beside her.

"I killed him." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Troy was right."

Nathan turned to her more confused than he'd ever been. "But, I thought you said you killed your brother. I just saw Troy."

Casey turned her head away. "Not Troy," she said. "I knew, I knew he what he was planning. I knew he..."

She couldn't control her tears any longer. Her body shook for the sobs and Nathan wrapped his arms around her small body. She laid her head on his chest and the two stayed like that for a while. The bell rang, but neither moved. Nathan felt Casey say something so he lifted her chin up so she could speak to him and not his shirt.

"My big brother Dylan, I knew he was going to kill himself, but I didn't think he would. I didn't mean to hurt him, but I should have told." She sniffled and rubbed one of her swollen, red eyes. "I killed him."

Nathan shook his head. "No," he whispered. "You didn't. If Dylan committed suicide, you didn't kill him. Casey, no. Who thinks you killed him?"

"Troy."

A sigh came from Nathan's mouth. "Casey, you didn't kill your brother. If he was so depressed that he felt the only way to get out was to die, there wasn't anything you could do. What happened happened. It's over, and you need to start getting your life back on track. I'm sure that's what Dylan would have wanted."

Casey turned her head. "But Troy's mad at me. He calls me a murderer."

"Just don't listen to him. He's just taking his anger out on you." Nathan hugged her tightly. "You're not a murderer."

"Really?"

The only reply Casey received was a small nod. A huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. She didn't kill Dylan, no matter what Troy said. She wasn't a murderer.

"Every thing is going to be okay now," Nathan whispered in her ear. "It's going to be just fine, I promise."

Casey looked up into his eyes and saw how sincere they looked. Nathan truly cared for her, more than any of her friends before had. They dropped her, but Nathan was there to stay. She just hoped she wouldn't be so needy anymore. Like Nathan said, Dylan wouldn't have wanted her to act differently, to be suddenly quiet and shy. That wasn't what Casey was like.

"So, what are we doing after school, buddy?" she asked with a smile.

"Buddy?" Nathan raised an eyebrow at her. "You're calling me 'buddy' now?"

She shrugged. "We are friends, right. Face it Nate, you're stuck with me and this is the way I act."

A smile spread across the boy's face. "I think I can handle it."

**So, what do you think? I'd really like to know.**

**Review!**


	11. Chapter Ten

**Okay, here is the long awaited chapter ten, sorry about the wait, after quarter 3 ended I sat down and wrote the entire thing, but then our dumb computer crashed and I couldn't put it up.**

**Chapter 10 - Hurt**

Nathan watched Casey in amazement. She was so much more energetic than she had been when he first met her. She smiled all the time, showing off her beautiful white teeth. Her clothing had changed too. Now instead of sporting dark shirts and jeans or sweatpants, she expanded her wardrobe with khakis, jean skirts, and brightly colored tops.

But, at the moment, he was watching her interact with her brother's friends. Troy was no where to be found, but Chad had given her an earbud to his iPod and the two were dancing in their seats to Chris Brown. He knew that once Troy arrived Casey would grab his hand and lead him from the room. Nathan didn't quite understand it. They were both happy kids, but when they were together there was tension, so much tension it was like the fogs that make it hard to see when you're out on the water.

The bell rang and the group stood. Chad and Zeke went one way, Jason another, and Casey lead Nathan down the hallway toward the gym. They had gym after free period and today they were playing badminton.

"We are going to dominate today," Casey said as they walked into the gym.

"When have we not?" Nathan laughed a little as they separated into their different locker rooms. When Nathan pushed the doors open he heard the familiar babble of his classmates, along with a voice he'd only heard a handful of times, yet was so distinguishable he knew who it was. He moved forward.

"Why would you want to be a gym leader?" the voice asked.

He looked around the row of lockers he was hiding behind and saw his gym leader, a senior named Greg, and Troy. Troy was sitting on the bench, fooling around with someone's lock while Greg was putting on a t-shirt.

"Because, it's more fun than a study hall," he replied, tossing his jeans at Troy. "Put those in my locker."

"What do I look like, a maid?" Troy demanded with a smile.

Nathan kept looking as the two interacted, trying to figure out what they were doing. "What class you supposed to be in?" Greg asked as he bent down to tie his sneaker.

Troy chuckled. "English, but Williams doesn't care if I come or not. Half our class skipped yesterday."

"Skipper," Greg coughed.

A snicker came from Troy. "I'll still pass because of who I am."

"I hate you." Greg shut the door of his locker. "You could skip everyday and still get straight A's."

"It all comes with the name," Troy said with a smirk.

Greg turned to face him and knelt down in front. "Your majesty," he joked before jogging out in the direction of the gym. "Hey Nathan!" he said as he passed. Nathan gave a small nod and walked around the lockers to come face to face with Troy.

Troy looked down at Nathan in disgust and it was amazing how much bigger he seemed. "Well, well, well, look who we have here. If it isn't my sister's best friend, Nathan Hillier." Troy's face came closer and he bend down to look Nathan in the eye. "Look, kid, I don't like my sister, but my dad's happy that you've got her out of our hair."

"Yeah right, it's just you that's happy about that," Nathan scoffed. "Your dad's happy she has a friend, a true friend."

A cold laugh came from the older boy. "Nate, after a while you'll see what I mean. She's insane and annoying."

"You're just mad because you think she killed Dylan and nobody believes you."

Troy raised an eyebrow. "So, I thought right. She did tell you about Dylan and how she's a little murderer. I'm sure you didn't believe her like the rest of the boneheads at this school. You seem smarter than that."

"No, Troy, you're the one that's wrong. Dylan would have done what he did if he told Casey or not," Nathan said confidently. Troy glared at him and pushed him against a set of lockers. Nathan gasped as his back hit the metal.

"Don't you dare talk about my brother like that," he hissed in Nathan's ear. "You didn't even know him!"

"No, but I do know Casey," Nathan muttered. "And she wouldn't lie about something like that. She was in so much pain, Troy. Can't you see that? If I saw my sister like that, I'd comfort her."

Troy pushed Nathan harder into the lockers and he wished he hadn't opened his mouth a second time. His back ached with pain and he felt tears well in his eyes as Troy's large hands took out their anger on his arms.

"Would you comfort the devil?" Troy asked quietly in his ear.

"Let me go," he said quietly yet forceful. Troy chuckled at Nathan's apparent pain before letting go and watching the freshman slide down the locker and hitting the floor with a hard smack. Nathan shut his eyes and Troy left the room.

Lifting up the sleeve of his shirt, Nathan saw Troy's hand print on his arm and he leaned his head against the locker. His back was in almost unbearable pain from being slammed against the vents in the red doors of the lockers.

"Nathan, are you okay?"

He looked up to see some of the other boys in his class looking down at him. He knew just by looking at their faces that they had seen what happened but were too afraid to speak up. He didn't blame them now that he had felt Troy's wrath.

"Here," Anthony Falcone said, holding his hand out to Nathan, who gratefully took hold of it. "Next time, don't talk. Troy's been under a lot of pressure lately."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he muttered thinking about how hard gym was going to be with his back. "I'm sure he has been under loads of pressure."

He walked to his locker and changed into his gym clothes. When he exited the room, Casey bounced toward him. "What took you so long?" she asked. "Usually you're out before I am."

Forcing a smile, he shrugged. "I was just talking to some of the guys."

Casey gave him a look, but didn't push the subject. Instead, she looked at him. "Race you to the attendance line!"

Which was the last thing Nathan wanted to do, besides the warm up crunches.

**So, how did you like it?**

**Review!**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Okay, so this is the next chapter.**

**Chapter 11 - Go**

The doorbell rang and Casey jump up from her seat at the kitchen table. She had been doing her homework and would have given anything for a distraction. And if finally came. "I'll get it!" she yelled, hoping her father wouldn't rush from what he was doing.

She was moments from grabbing the doorknob when Jack ran into the room. "No, get upstairs now. Troy! Upstairs!"

"But, why?" Casey asked, clearly confused. It was just the ringing of the doorbell. Maybe it was Nathan, he hadn't quite learned that nobody rang the bell at the Bolton home if they were planning on seeing her or Troy. Normally, people were walking in and out all the time.

"Casey, please, just go," he hissed, pushing her away from the window surrounding the door. "Troy! Come get your sister and hurry please!"

The doorbell rang again. "Dad, aren't you going to get that?" she asked. Who ever was on the other side was probably getting frustrated and ready to leave. "It's probably just a package."

Suddenly, she felt two arms grab her around the waist and carry her up the stairs. Knowing it was Troy, she started to kick and would have screamed if he hadn't stuck a sock off the floor in her mouth. She and Troy were not on speaking terms and she knew the only reason he had come to get her was because Jack had told him to.

"Casey, listen, I'm taking the sock out and if you scream, we're dead," Troy said. She could tell he was being serious, so when he grabbed the sock she stayed quiet.

"What's going on?"

Troy rolled his eyes. "Casey, Mom got custody. She wants us, and if she finds out that we're here now she's going to take us. And I want you to know that this is entirely your fault!"

"Why is it my fault?" Casey whispered. A loud crash was heard from the kitchen and Casey felt her body tense.

"If you hadn't killed Dylan, would we be in this situation?" Troy hissed.

Casey looked to the ground and Troy found confidence. He gave a smile before looking down the stairs to see his parents fighting. He shook his head at their childish behavior, but silently hoped his father won. He didn't want to go with his mother, he had his friends in Albuquerque.

He turned his head to Casey and bit his lip. He felt bad for what he was doing to her, but it was the only reason he had for Dylan being dead. If Casey had opened her mouth he would have still been alive. Plus, being cruel to Casey and her new friend gave him a serge he'd never felt before. And he liked the feeling of being in charge.

When his brother died, he decided that he didn't want to be the passive basketball captain anymore. Sure, he had been popular, but Chad had always done most of the talking and reasoning. Everyone always expected him to be really outspoken and talkative because of who he was, but in truth he was really shy and he was going way out of his comfort zone being who he was. Dylan had always been the talker. Troy had followed his footsteps, but now there were no footsteps for him to follow.

The sound of shoes hitting the stairs entered his ears and he cursed. What was he going to do? He could make a run for it and leave Casey there. He could always go to Chad's, of course his mother would look there after she left the house. His only other option was to let Casey go out through the window, they both wouldn't make it in time.

He grabbed her arm and opened the window that looked out on the roof of the garage. He pushed her so she'd go through. "Go," he said. "Run."

"Why are you doing this?" Casey asked.

He knew why she was asking that. He had been so cold to her, he had tried to push her away. But, he had decided to push everyone away, not wanting the same heart ache Dylan had left him again. If this was how she was going to remember him, he wanted it to be good.

_If I saw my sister like that, I'd comfort her._

He shook his head, remembering what Nathan had told him. It had stayed with him ever since he said it. "Because," Troy told her. "You're my sister."

"Elizabeth!" came Jack's voice from the first floor. Casey's eyes widened from her place on the roof.

"Go!" Troy hissed.

"You're not coming with me?" she questioned.

"Elizabeth, they aren't up there!"

Troy sighed, now he had to go. "Move, C, I'm coming," he whispered, unconsciously using the nickname he and Dylan used to call her.

Casey moved and Troy threw himself out the window just in time to disappear as Elizabeth ran up the stairs. The siblings crawled across the roof and climbed down the vines before sprinting as fast as they could down the street. They didn't look back, just ran.

Once they were in a place where they didn't know where they were, they stopped under a tree and sat down. Casey looked up at Troy. "I thought you hated me," she whispered. A few raindrops started to fall from the dark sky.

Troy shrugged. "It was something your friend said and I realized, I was just calling you a murderer for my own mind. I didn't want to blame Dylan so I blamed the next person, you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

He shook his head. "No, I've been a jerk to you. And to Nathan. I slammed him against the lockers after he said something I misunderstood as him insulting Dylan." Casey looked up at him. "You mean he didn't tell you that I lost my temper with him in the locker room?"

Casey shook her head.

"Wow," he chuckled as the rain started to fall harder. "That kid is...if my best friend's brother beat me up I would have told everyone I knew."

"So that's why he didn't want to do gym," Casey said quietly.

Troy smiled. "I guess it's your turn to hate me."

Casey shook her head. "No, I can't." Troy raised an eyebrow. Casey laughed, understanding that he wanted a reason. "Because, Troy," she said, looking into his blue eyes. "You're my brother."

**Okay, so now you know why Troy was acting mean to her and Nathan, and you see that he really wasn't thinking meanly the whole time, just acting mean. Hopefully this is good and not too rushed.**

**Review.**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**Chapter 12 - Looking**

Jack was having a hard time seeing through all the rain that was coming down as he drove slowly down all the side streets in his neighborhood. Elizabeth was sitting beside him in the passenger seat, tapping her fingernails on the glass, clearly annoyed that the children were not at home.

"How could you not know where they were?" she demanded.

Jack rolled his eyes and continued to look for his kids. Silently he was happy that Troy and Casey had gotten out, but in truth he was scared. If they couldn't find them, what would happen. Would they come back, or would Elizabeth call him a kidnapper and get him thrown in jail?

"Are you going to help me look for them or not?" Jack muttered, noticing she was paying more attention to her nails than anything else.

She gave a cold chuckle. "You know that when we find them they're coming with me. They're no way out of this, Troy and Casey will come to Portland with me. You can see them on the weekends."

Jack snorted at the way she phrased it. "Oh yeah, because we're going to put them on a plane every weekend." He sighed. "Why are you doing this?"

"What?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Ruining their lives," he exploded. "I mean, look at what you're doing to Troy. He'll go with you and two months later he'll graduate away from his friends and with people he barely knows. And Casey, she just made a true friend, they've become inseparable."

Elizabeth glared at him and Jack pulled the car over to the side of the road, putting it in park. "I'm not ruining their lives! Children need to be with their mother. Plus, I can give them anything they want. You on the other hand, what will you give them with your teacher salary."

"They don't care about material things," Jack said. "I've raised them better-"

"You've raised them!" came Elizabeth's shrill response.

"Yes! I did," Jack told her. "How many conferences have you been to? How many times were you called because one of them got hurt on the playground? How many days did you take off because they were sick! Now that I think about it, I've been a single parent for a long time and we've been just fine."

"Just fine?" Elizabeth asked. "Then, what happened to Dylan?" Jack didn't answer and she took this as her own gain. "So, Mr. Parent of the Year, if you raised them so well, what happened to Dylan, and if you can't remember, he killed himself."

Jack looked out the window. "Dylan had a medical problem, that's what happened."

There was silence in the car as they sat in the car. The rain was pounding down on the roof above them and Elizabeth turned to look out the window. "I hope they're not out there."

"Where else would they be?" He was almost certain they were in the rain somewhere.

"We could try Chad's," she said. "He's Troy's best friend after all."

"Glad to know you know one of the friends you're taking Troy away from," Jack muttered. He didn't understand it. Troy would be going to college in September and these few months could be the last he'd ever see of most of the kids until they started having reunions. Why would any mother want to take her child away from that?

Jack put the car into drive and rode slowly down the street and stopped outside the Danforth home. He stepped out and into the rain. The water didn't bother him, he was already soaked from looking in the yard before they took the car. He knocked on the door and Chad's mother answered the door.

"Hello, Jack," she said. "Anything I can help you with."

"You haven't by any chance seen Troy have you? Or Casey?" he asked sounding pathetic and desperate. She shook her head, but called Chad down.

"Hey, Coach," he greeted coming down the stairs. "What's up?"

"Have you heard from Troy or Casey?" Jack was hoping he'd know, if not where they were, where they should look. "They left earlier tonight and we can't find them anywhere."

Chad thought for a moment and shook his head. "I haven't, but I'd be surprised if they were together. They haven't really been too friendly to each other at school. But, I know Troy would run as far as he could. What was he running away from?"

"Elizabeth got custody and she wants to take the two of them to Oregon with her," Jack said, surprised at how hard it was from him to say Elizabeth had won custody over him. "Needless to say they didn't want to go."

"I don't know about Casey, but Troy won't be around here. He'll go as far as he can without stopping," Chad said. "I hope that helped," he added, clearly concerned for his best friend.

"I do too," Jack mutter and walked away. It was going to be a long night of looking. He stepped into the car and started to drive to the edge of the city. Elizabeth looked around.

"Where are we going?"

"Far away," Jack told her bluntly, not in the mood to talk to her.

"Everyone told me not to marry you. That I could do better. I mean, I was from a wealthy family and they told me I'd regret it," Elizabeth said, mainly to herself but loud enough for Jack to hear.

He stepped on the breaks and she flew forward not expecting the sudden stop. She opened her mouth to complain but Jack beat her too it. "Look, Elizabeth, if we're going to find them we're going to have to work together. I don't care about how wealthy you think you are. If you care about your kids _at all_ you will stop complaining and help me look!"

Elizabeth turned to look out the window. "Finally," Jack said. "Something we agree on."

"You think they're okay, right," she asked, fear rushing through her insides.

"I hope so," was Jack's reply.

**So, they're actually working together. Wow.**

**It was basically a filler chapter with the views of Jack and Elizabeth. Hope you liked it!**

**Review!**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Alrighty, thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love hearing what you have to think about the story. Enough of my blabber though.**

**Chapter 13 - Cold**

The blackness of the night had taken over the sky and Casey shivered. She shook her head thinking about the chilly temperature, which had to be in the low thirties. She was soaked clear to the bone and was sitting in a puddle of mud, barely able to move her fingers. She and Troy had been outside for many hours and it had to be close to midnight. Not only that, but the rain didn't stop falling.

Her teeth clattered and she put her cold hands on her bare, wet arms. She hadn't thought she'd be going outside. Her eyes glanced to her brother, her shivering not stopping. Troy was laying in the mud, his shorts now a shade of murky brown instead of red, and he was rubbing his bare feet together to keep them warm.

"Troy?" she said, her voice slightly hoarse from the cold.

"Yeah," he replied.

"We should go home. I bet Dad's worried," she told him, barely able to get the words out because she was so cold.

Troy thought for a moment before looking around at the wooded area that surrounded them. "It's no use," he said, laying his head on a rock. "I wouldn't know how to get out of the woods. We'd just get more lost. Are you cold?"

"No," Casey lied.

His arms opened up. "Come here, body heat. We're going to have to stay here tonight and hope the storm passes." He looked up. "It just had to be cold, right?"

Casey nodded and crawled into her brother's arms. She noticed him shivering, perhaps even more than she was. She bent her head so it fit under his neck. "I wish we could go someplace dry," she muttered softly.

"Yeah," he agreed.

A strong gust of wind blew through the trees. Troy rolled his eyes and Casey buried her face deeper into Troy's neck. He hugged her tighter wondering what had gone so wrong. They were going to run away so they didn't have to go to Oregon, not get stranded in some woods that he didn't recognize.

"Troy?"

"Yeah."

Casey took a deep breath. "I'm scared," she said quietly.

"Me too," he told her. "But, we just need to keep talking. Don't go to sleep, stay with me. We're going to be fine. Dad will find us, I know he will."

Troy looked around at the dark surroundings. He could barely make out the stars in the sky beyond the trees, but he could see the moon. He was tired, knowing it was late and they had been out there for way too long. He put the hood of his sweatshirt on his head before covering his sister's head with his arms. Most of their heat would leave through their heads and the more covered it was, the less heat would leave them.

Wind blew over them making Casey shiver in Troy's embrace. He shut his eyes, ashamed of the outcome of their hurried actions. He had never been so cold in his life and was unable to feel his legs. Casey's short breaths hit against his neck, the only warmness he felt. It was so relaxing that he found himself fighting to stay awake.

He cursed himself for not having his cellphone. He always had it, and the only day he didn't because it was charging he was out in the cold and rainy night with Casey. He focused more on his breathing than the misfortune of not having the invention of the never-dying cellphone.

His breathing came in spurts; every once and a while he'd take three or four quick breaths and then nothing. Casey's was in more a rhythm. He was tired, but he told Casey not to sleep, so how could he?

'What could a little nap do?' he thought, before allowing sleep to overtake him.

Casey's eyes wandered the area where they were, trying to find an escape. There was a path, but she couldn't see where it went. It was too dark and she could only see the basic outlines of the plants around her.

She didn't what she could do to keep herself awake, but she knew she had to. Troy was older and smarter so he'd know what to do. She looked up at the moon and smiled a small grin. She would sing camp songs to herself.

"Just a boy and a girl in a little canoe, with the moon shining all around. And they paddled and they paddled so, couldn't even hear a sound," she whispered. "And they talked, and they talked 'til the moon went dim, he said you better," she had trouble making a kissing sound with her barely moving lips, "or get out and swim so what'cha gonna do in a little canoe with the moon shining all a, boys paddling on a, girls swimming all around. Get out and swim!"

She placed her head back into Troy's neck where it was a lot warmer. When they got out of there, there was a lot of things she was going to do differently. Like, she wasn't going to fight with Troy. He had proved himself to be a great brother although he had blamed her for killing Dylan.

"Troy?"

There was no response. Casey couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

"Troy?"

Again, he didn't answer. She assumed it was because he didn't hear her, but she couldn't force her words any louder. Her hoarse voice was already hurting her throat at the small volume she had used. Instead, she thought about what Troy would say to her. "What? You okay, C?"

She nodded her head, believing she was actually in a conversation with her brother. "You haven't called me 'C' since Dylan died."

"I know. I hope you can forgive me for all the bad things I've done to you since then," Troy's voice said in her mind.

"I can," she told the voice.

"Good. Now, it's cold, so the faster you get to sleep the faster morning will come and Dad will get us out of this mess," Troy's voice said. Casey nodded, shutting her eyes. "Oh and Casey, remember that I love you, we all do."

"I love you too," Casey murmured. Then everything went black as she lost consciousness.

**So, how did everyone like that? Tell me what you think! I love hearing what you have to say!**

**Review!**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Okay, last chapter was a big hit. I got a ton of reviews.**

**Here's the next one, I hope everyone finds it as enjoyable as the last. I'm on vacation (yeah, spring break!) and will finish this by the end of the week probably because I have no homework to do and lacrosse practice on Tuesday and Thursday which will probably get canceled because this major storm's coming.**

**Chapter 14 - Prayer**

The sun was beginning to come up making the sky a beautiful pink. Jack rubbed his eyes. He'd been searching throughout the night, recruiting many people as he went. The Crosses and Baylors, upon hearing the news of Troy's disappearance from the Danforths, demanded to help. Chad and his parents had also come out to search with Gabriella, Taylor, and Kelsi. The Evans, with their high social standing in the community, convinced the police to get involved in looking even though they were supposed to wait twenty-four hours.

"Troy!" he yelled, stepping through a bush to get inside a wooded area. "Casey!"

Through the trees he could hear Chad's loud voice yelling above anyone else's. If his children were in the woods they would hear the bushy haired team. Jack ran a hand through his hair nervously. He just wanted to find them.

Elizabeth walked behind him, not complaining at all about how the mud was seeping inside her shoe or how the high heel had broken off. She too, like Jack, wanted to find them alive and well. The rain had stopped and the two parents were taking it as good omen.

"Casey!" she screamed clearly scared for the wellbeing of her children. "Troy!"

"Troy!" Jack yelled as loud as he could.

"Jack!"

He and Elizabeth turned to the voice of Chris Danforth. He was running toward them. "Over here! We found them!"

"Oh God," Elizabeth gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. She seemed to be immobile, but Jack started sprinting. Ahead, near a large tree, he saw Richard Evans kneeling on the ground with his cellphone to his ear. He was running so fast that Chris was having trouble keeping up.

Jack knelt down beside his two children. They looked so serene with their eyes closed. They were laying on their backs, Troy's soaked, red sweatshirt thrown to the side. "Ambulance is on it's way," Richard said quietly.

Richard's words went right over his head as he stroked Casey's cheek with the back of his hand. "She's so cold," he muttered to himself.

"Are they..."

Jack turned his head up to Elizabeth who was standing behind him. He shook his head, although he didn't know if they were dead or not. They looked dead, but something inside of him told him that they weren't. He heard running and he looked away from Elizabeth to the noise. It was Gloria Baylor and in her arms were five or so blankets.

He stepped back and let the parents of his son's friends take over. He was impressed at how they reacted to the incident. Richard Evans, one of the best lawyers in the state, was on his cellphone talking to the 911 operator. Chris Danforth and Gloria Baylor were wrapping Troy and Casey in blankets and checking for weak pulses and breaths.

These people, who only knew them because of their own children, were helping in such a great way. They came out in the middle of the night without being asked as if it were their children that were in trouble instead of his. He didn't know what to say, or how to thank them.

He heard a siren and knew that the ambulance was there. The same noise he heard when Gloria ran toward him was heard again but doubled as the paramedics rushed to them. Everyone moved out of the way, knowing the trained medical personnel knew what to do better than them.

Jack looked on as two men and a women dressed in blue uniforms worked on his children. More paramedics carried stretchers in the woods, unable to wheel them through the mud. They got Troy situated on one before sending it off and turning their attention to Casey. He assumed that Troy had been in worse shape then Casey if he was sent first, but when Jack had touched Casey she had been as cold as ice. He could only imagine Troy's temperature as he watched them take Casey from the woods, Elizabeth running after them.

He was frozen, much like his soon to be ex-wife had been when Chris had run over telling them Troy and Casey had been found. He couldn't believe that his two children were in such severe condition because of his wife and his childish fighting.

He sat down on a rock and put his head in his hands. He couldn't lose another child. Dylan's death had been hard enough, he couldn't think what would happen to him if either Troy or Casey died. Or both, part of him thought. The other part still couldn't believe that his kids had been found and were on route to the hospital that quickly.

"Please," he muttered. "Don't let them die."

Tears were flowing down his cheeks. Jack had never been a religious man, and the only part of church he remembered from his childhood was when he stuck a tack in the Sunday school nun's chair after she told him that relating the Bible to basketball was unacceptable. But, after Dylan died, he hoped that there was somewhere else you went after death.

"I don't know what's up there," he said, looking up at the morning sky. "But, if you are up there, God, and you take another one of my children, there better be something good. Troy will be pretty upset if there's no basketball court."

He covered his eyes with his hand to try and stop crying. "Please, they don't deserve to die. They're too young. Casey's just starting to get back to normal and Troy's almost done with high school."

He took a deep breath. "They looked so dead," he muttered. "Please, just tell me that this is some big joke and I'm going to wake up and they'll be banging on my door, laughing like they always do.

"It's all in your hands now," Jack said. "Give me one more chance to be a good father and give them another chance to laugh. I want to see Troy's big blue eyes. I want to see Casey's beautiful smile."

Jack stood from his seat on the rock and walked out of the woods, taking one look back at the tree his children had taken shelter under. He shook his head and walked to his car, ready to go to the hospital and see how his kids were doing and to see if his praying really worked after all.

**So, what did you think?**

**Tell me how you liked it!**

**Review!**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Okay, you know that storm I told you about. Yeah, it was pretty bad. Trees were down and I – dumb me – went to my friends house where I couldn't work on this. I got stranded there for two days because there were too many trees on the roads to get a car by. Then, my hunk-of-junk computer crashed. My family, whose lives revolve around the computer when it's raining and there's nothing else to do, was devastated. But, hey, it's working! Jump for joy!**

**Also, if anybody is looking for two great reads (if you like fantasies – like vampires and the whole nine yards) check out Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. My friend (yes before you asked, the one whose house I was stuck at) told me I needed to read it and I got addicted to it. **

**So, now that I've rambled on and on about stuff you really don't care about because you want to see if Troy and Casey are 'just peachy'. So, I'll let you go.**

**Chapter 15 - Aftermath**

The room was unfamiliar, absurdly white and way too bright for her liking. It hurt her eyes too look around. A faint beeping noise was heard and she noticed that tubes were connected to her. She groaned, her head hurt and a figure turned from looking out the window and gasped upon seeing her.

"Casey! You're awake!"

Nathan. She smiled. An unexplainable feeling of happiness rushed through her knowing that Nathan was in the room with her. Memories flashed through her. The woods, Troy, the cold, rain, then she realized where she was. The hospital, in a bed with the curtains drawn around her bed.

"Troy?" she asked, her voice sounding pathetic to her ears.

"He's in a different room, just woke up yesterday," Nathan told her, overly excited by her awareness. He reached across her and kissed her forehead. "Don't ever do that again. You scared me _so_ much."

She chuckled, which she realized was not a smart thing to do. She stopped after she realized it was causing pain in her throat and instead gave him a look. "Scared to walk around East High without me, are you?"

A smile spread across his features and she couldn't help but grin. "How long have I been out? You said Troy woke up yesterday."

"Four days, today's Wednesday," he told her. "I was getting scared you weren't going to wake up."

"There's something you need to know about us Boltons, Nathan," she said with a smirk. "We never give up, on anything, whether it's life or a game. Remember that."

"I will," he said, smiling at her with such a big grin that she thought his face would crack. "I couldn't imagine life without you."

She could feel the heat rising in her face. "I bet you could have a couple months ago," she said.

"I didn't know you a couple months ago," he contradicted. "Ironic isn't it? I never wanted to move here, and now I can't think about not being here, being without you...and everyone else," he added, looking away slightly embarrassed at his own words.

Casey giggled momentarily until it started to hurt her. Nathan raised an eyebrow and moved his hand toward the nurse call button. She grabbed his hand, not wanting her nurse to come into the room. "You're in pain," he said, looking at her with pain in his own eyes. Although Casey knew it was a different kind of pain than what she was experiencing. "You need to relax."

"I am relaxed!" she yelled, her voice still hoarse and quiet no matter how much force she put behind it. Nathan sent her a glare before slamming his free hand against the button. Casey rolled her eyes as he sent her a triumphant smile.

"Oh, sweetheart, you're awake!" came a jolly voice as the curtain was pulled aside. "Do you want me to go tell your family?" The nurse asked as she checked the charts and adjusted the medicine.

"I'll do that," Nathan said. "She needs some meds, she's in a lot of pain although she's stubborn as a mule," he directed to the nurse before walking out toward the door.

Casey watched as the round woman pressed some buttons. Her name tag read 'Helen' and her curly, blond hair reached her shoulders. She had a smile that reminded Casey of Nathan's, one that made you want to smile too. She glanced at the door, hoping Nathan would come in again.

"You snagged yourself a cute one," the nurse said, breaking her from her thoughts. Casey's eyes widened and she jerked her head to look at Helen. "He's been here the entire time, talking to you, singing to you. If I can give you any advice, I'd say don't lose him."

"Um," Casey said, not knowing what to say. The nurse thought that Nathan was her boyfriend! The older lady smiled and walked from the curtains, just in time for her father to step through. Casey kind of felt relieved now that Nathan wasn't with him; she didn't want him to see her reaction.

"Hey, kiddo," Jack greeted, taking the seat Nathan once occupied. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Casey lied, feeling drowsy from the increased medication. Jack seemed to notice and didn't push the lie. "How's Troy?" she asked, wanting to get the conversation off of her.

"Oh, Troy. He's good," Jack said. "He's been worried sick about you. When he woke up and you didn't we were getting a little worried. Troy was so much colder than you were for some reason."

Casey smiled a little remembering Troy's behavior. He had done everything he could to keep her warm, even if it meant losing most of his heat. "Troy did a good job of keeping me warm," she told her father.

Her eyes scanned the room, sure that her father wasn't the only person to come into the room. But, as she looked around her, all she saw was the annoying white walls, the dull pink curtains. She didn't know what the room was missing. She knew where her brother and Nathan were. She didn't have any friends and the people who cared about her that way were no doubt with Troy. Then, a sinking feeling settled in her stomach.

"Where's Mom?" she voiced carefully, unsure of what Jack's reaction would be. She noticed that her voice cracked slightly.

Jack was silent for a second as if trying to figure out the best way to word what he was about to tell her. "She was so worried for you and your brother and felt guilty for it after you two were found. But, when Troy woke up, he didn't like her being there. I think that truly sent her away."

"Away?" Casey croaked.

Her father nodded. "She left today, for Portland probably. I don't see why she'd go anywhere else. I'm just afraid she left because she didn't want to get yelled at a second time instead of thinking that it was sincerely in your best interest to stay here."

Casey looked around her. The room did seem empty without Elizabeth Bolton complaining about the decorations or how stupid Casey and Troy were to get landed in the hospital. Her father, in truth, had always been more caring. But, it did seem weird that her mother would leave without waiting to see if she woke up.

"Do you think she left because she was scared I would die too?" Casey asked quietly. Jack met her eyes and shrugged.

"It's a possibility." Jack looked down at his watch and raised his eyebrows. "Well, you should get some more rest." She must have given him a look because he continued with, "I know, you've been sleeping for a long time, but that much sleep is exhausting." He winked before standing. "Plus, you'll have more visitors."

"Like who?" Casey asked, more cruelly than she intended. He, her father of all people, should know that she didn't have any friends. Just Nathan, and she was beginning to question the nature of their relationship after the nonsense the nurse put through her head.

Jack didn't answer and pushed pass the curtain. She rolled her eyes, a typical response for her father. When he didn't have anything to say, nothing escaped his mouth. Although, when he did have something to say, especially if it was against something, you knew. Silently, she wondered if part of the reason for Elizabeth's departure was because Jack had blown up on her. It wouldn't have surprised her one bit. Jack's temper was set off easily and Elizabeth's ego could get hurt rather quickly.

"Hey!"

She hadn't noticed that she'd been staring out the window. Her gaze turned to Nathan who was seating in the chair beside her bed. His arm was resting on the side of the bed and his chin was resting in the palm of his hand. "I thought the drugs would make you sleepy," he said with a smirk.

"Ha ha," Casey replied dryly. "What are you doing back in here?"

"I came to watch you sleep," he told her. Casey rolled her eyes and Nathan stood. "If you aren't going to close your eyes and drift off into dreamland, then I'll leave."

"No!" she screamed, almost too quickly for her liking. She had never thought of Nathan in this way before, why would it change now? 'Oh, right,' she thought to herself. 'Near death experience.'

"Don't leave," she found herself whispering, as if she were a young child with monsters under her bed. "Please, stay with me. I don't want to be alone."

Nathan sat back down and grabbed her hand. "I'm right here, Case. I'll stay by your side until they," he motioned to the nurse call button, "kick me out."

"Good," she whispered. "I want you to stay forever."

"I'll stay for a lifetime."

Casey smiled before closing her eyes, feeling Nathan's warm hand traveling up and down her forearm. The movement comforted her and had the same effect as a lullaby would have on a baby. She was asleep almost as fast as she closed her eyes.

**So, yeah. I think I flavored the romance a little too much, but I was inspired by Twilight, New Moon, and a couple of reviews. One in particular that told me that she couldn't die because she and Nathan hadn't kissed yet :) Thanks, I had a pretty good laugh out of that Oliverwoodschic!**

**So, review!**


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Alright. Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it!**

**Chapter 16 – Brother**

Casey's eyes blinked open upon hearing a noise in the room. At first she assumed it was probably Nathan standing up to leave and her heart raced. He told her he'd stay as long as he could and she was about to fight the nurse to let him stay longer.

But she wouldn't need to do that because sitting on the side of the bed, an IV pole beside him, was Troy.

"Hey," he said. His voice was stronger than hers yet it still didn't have the almost melodic rhythm it usually had and was a little hoarse. "You're alive!"

"Thank you," she said, placing her hand over his. Troy raised an eyebrow at her, obviously confused at why she was thanking him. "You saved me. I probably wouldn't be alive if you hadn't kept me as warm as you did. You sacrificed yourself for me. I owe you."

Troy smiled. "No, not anymore. You repaid your debt by waking up."

Casey grinned at Troy's response and leaned back into the pillow. "Dad said you were worried sick about me," she told him triumphantly. In the night they spent together, her mind had forgotten about how Troy had treated her. He saved her, that was all that mattered. Of course, seeing the guilt in his eyes whenever he looked at her helped her too. It showed that he was sincere about his apology.

There was no response from Troy. Instead his eyes gazed to the other side of her bed. Nathan was sitting in the chair, his forehead rested in his forearms as he leaned on the off-white comforter. His deep breaths showed he was fast asleep. Troy chuckled. "I swear, he's addicted to you or something. He's barely left your side."

"So I've heard," she whispered, turning to look at the blond boy.

Troy turned his stare to the window as he sighed. Casey knew it was a guilty sigh. "I'm sorry," he told. "And I know sorry will never be enough. I should never have blamed you, but it just seemed so much easier than accepting the truth."

"I know you're sorry-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Troy interrupted. "What would you have done if I hadn't gotten a little control in the locker room and ended up killing Nathan? Would you still be as willing to look me in the eye?"

Casey looked to Nathan then back to Troy. She didn't know what happened in the locker room. All Troy had told her was that Nathan had said something he mistook as a insult to Dylan. She didn't think he would have killed him, Troy didn't seem to have the killing quality in him. But, then again, Troy had been angry and his emotions had been carried away by the pain of Dylan's death.

"It would have been an accident," she whispered.

Troy slammed a hand against the wall loudly and Casey quickly turned to Nathan, hoping he didn't wake. He stirred but kept his head down, his breathing still deep and innocent. "Damn it, Casey! Why do you have to be so forgiving all the time? I just about ruined your life and your response is 'oh well, let's get over it now' as if you had a blast!"

She didn't have a reply. It was true, if she really wanted to she could have destroyed her relationship with her brother and severed any ties to him she had. She could have called her mother, gone to Oregon to get away. But she didn't. She wanted to stay in Albuquerque. She wanted to still have her big brother.

"You're my brother," she told him quietly. "I can't just tell you to get out of my life."

"Why not?"

She took a deep breath. "Because, you and Dad are the only family I have left."

Casey watched her brother place his hands behind his head and close his eyes. "Only you, Casey. Only you could look someone in the eye and tell them you loved them without holding a bit of anger toward them, even after they broke your heart into so many pieces." He took a moment before telling her, "you've always been stronger than me."

Troy grabbed his IV pole, walking passed the curtain and out of the room. Casey stared out the window, willing herself to go back to sleep, yet she knew that it wasn't coming. Troy's words echoed through her head and she sighed. She didn't know how to react to words as strong as those. Was he complimenting her? She didn't know.

"Casey?"

She turned to see Nathan lifting his head from his arms. His eyes were wide and for the first time she noticed the color. They were dark blue with traces of green, reminding her of the pictures Chad had shown her a long time ago when he'd gone to California.

"_See, Case, the ocean. It's so much better than some dumb pool."_

"Your eyes look like the ocean," she whispered.

"I thought you'd never been the ocean," he muttered, sleep filling his voice.

She smiled. "I've seen pictures."

He scoffed and leaned his head back down on his arms. "Pictures are nothing. You can't capture waves in a picture."

Casey reached forward and played with a lock of his blond hair. "Well, then," she said playfully. "I guess I'll have to take a vacation to an ocean." Nathan smiled and she twirled the hair in her fingers. "You look like a surfer dude."

He chuckled. "I've actually only surfed a few times. I'm more of a jet skier."

"I guess there's a lot I need to learn."

Nathan nodded and grabbed her hand. "That's why you have to go with me. We're heading back this summer, and like I said before you need to come. There's so much I want to show you. Plus, I want you to meet my dad."

Casey cocked her head to one side. "You mean, he didn't move here with you?"

She laughed as Nathan's eyebrows raised. He was completely surprised by her question. "Did you listen to a word I told you about my family?" he accused. Casey nodded with a look on her face, he had never said anything about who moved where. "I told you my dad's a fisherman. Can he fish when there's no water?"

A chuckle came from Casey mouth. How could she have not noticed that? "I guess that would make fishing kind of hard, right?"

"He's going to come here when he can, but he's got to be close to water if he's going to keep his job. That's why we're going this summer." He looked into her brown eyes. "And if you want to come, the offer still stands."

She smiled. "Yeah, then I can see what's so great about this _ocean_."

**So, yeah, there it is. Sorry if anyone got offended by Troy's little rant. And also, sorry about the lack of romance in this chapter. It was a Troy/Casey chapter mostly, and a filler, maybe next chapter... :)**

**Tell me what you think.**

**Review!**


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Alrighty, here is the next chapter. I hope you like it!**

**Chapter 17 - Teased**

"Hey, Hillier! Where you going so fast?"

Nathan turned and smiled. A few of the guys on the lacrosse team had yelled for him. "I'm out, guys. Casey just got released from the hospital. I promised that I'd be there."

The dark haired freshman who had called out to him sent the other two boys a look which Nathan caught. He rolled his eyes in anticipation of the words that would come out of Todd Bryant's mouth. "Oh, okay. Go see your girl, Nathan. Fill us in tomorrow at practice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked, a smile tugging at the sides of his lips. He knew the guys were just kidding and wouldn't push it any further.

"You _know_ what we mean," a tall redhead said. Mike Patterson. He wiggled his red eyebrows and threw his red bag on the ground. "I mean, come on. You'd rather be with her than your own team? You can't be that oblivious."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. Usually they'd let him off to go see Casey without much fuss, but today was different. Todd had a sly smirk on his face and Mike's eyes were wide. The other kid, an African-American named James, was rolling his eyes while the three gave Nathan a hard time.

"Everyone on campus knows you like Casey," Todd stated, bouncing a yellow practice ball nonchalantly.

"And, that you're too chicken to do anything."

"Hey!" Nathan directed at Mike, slightly defensive. "I'm not chicken, she just got out of the hospital, guys. I don't think she really needs that."

Todd shrugged. "We're just trying to help you. I've noticed, when we talk about Casey in the locker room before going out on the field, you always do better. You'd think it'd be the opposite, that you'd be distracted, but she seems to be a good luck charm."

Nathan suddenly found a crack in the cement interesting and focused his attention to it. Todd gave a satisfied smile and Mike laughed. Nathan found himself glaring at Mike and James stepped forward patting him on the shoulder.

"I've gone to school with Casey since kindergarten and believe me, her brothers," he nodded and Nathan gave him a look. "Well, they were protective of her, just so you know."

He turned away from the three boys and walked away from the school. In his mind he'd just assumed that Troy would watch out for her, especially after the incident in the woods, because that's what he would do if it were Natalie. He'd already gotten on Troy's bad side once, but whenever Troy saw him after that he seemed perfectly fine. In fact, when he'd passed him in the hospital hallway, Troy had given a nice wave in his direction.

Of course what James had said changed everything. Now Nathan was wondering if Gabriella or Chad had been behind him as he walked.

He stood outside Casey's house for the longest time, not having the courage to go in. Was it really that obvious that he liked her? He bit down hard on his lower lip. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with her but part of him thought that he'd explode if he couldn't hold her. His breath was suddenly ragged as he remembered finding out she was in the hospital. He had wanted to see her so bad it hurt and he'd paced the room in worry.

"Nathan!"

He looked up to see Casey walking out of the house and down the walkway toward him. He was still in his practice uniform, East written across his chest and red shorts. She was in light blue flannel pants, probably her pajamas, and a sweatshirt. "You shouldn't be out here," he told her quietly.

She smiled. "I can do what ever I want, my dad just doesn't want me to be outside. He's a little paranoid." Her expression changed as she looked at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, though his mind was elsewhere. His thoughts were plagued by what the others had told him.

"No, you're not," she said fiercely. Her hand grabbed his and he felt an electrical current. Unconsciously he pulled away. "See, you're definitely not fine. You're nervous about something. Nathan, you can tell me anything."

He looked away and sighed. Casey grabbed his face in her hands to direct his vision to her. "Nathan, I'll always be with you. No matter what. I promise."

There was silence between the two as Nathan decided what he needed to tell her. He'd never felt this way about anyone before and it scared him. First, scared that she wouldn't feel the same way. Second, that he'd lose her to someone else, and he was certain that he wouldn't deal with that well.

"Casey," he said quietly. She looked up at him with inquisitive eyes. He stared into the dark brown brought his hand to the side of her cheek. "I am a chicken," he spoke, more to himself than to her.

"Then you should do something brave," Casey told him with a smile.

Their faces were centimeters apart and Nathan could feel the breath of each word on his face. "You wouldn't like it."

"How can you be so sure?" Casey's eyes bore into his own. "I don't even know what you're going to do. Try it, I might like it."

Nathan put his forehead on hers and sighed. Casey raised her eyebrows slightly, watching him uncomfortably trying to form words. She had figured out what he was trying to say and was just waiting for him to say it. "I don't want you to feel awkward if you don't like it."

She giggled but had had enough waiting. She leaned up broke the space between them by crashing her lips against his. At first, he seemed surprised, then he relaxed. She pulled away and smiled at him. "So, you chicken, is that what you wanted to do?"

All he did in response was kiss her again.

**So, how did you like it? I know a lot of you probably liked the end...**

**It was basically a filler chapter (not that the beginning of their relationship is at all unimportant), more action and interesting scenes come in the next chapters.**

**Review!**


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Okay, here is the next chapter. Have fun with it!**

**Chapter 18 - Back**

Casey slung her blue backpack over her shoulder and stood beside Troy for a moment. Neither were too excited to go to school after their ordeal, both scared what the reactions of the students would be. Her eyes scanned the large brick structure and she took a deep breath. Troy looked over when she sighed.

"Hey, you'll be fine," he said with a smile, giving her a slight push toward the steps. "Go find Nathan, he'll save you from the big bad student paparazzi."

Even as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks she chuckled. East High was like Hollywood in a way, her brother and the rest of the sports teams as the center of attention as if they were actors. She gave him a quick smile before rushing up the stairs.

She entered the school and looked around. People gave her quick glances or long stares, but for some reason it didn't make her as uncomfortable as she thought it would have. She walked to her locker and grabbed the books she needed. When she shut the door, she noticed two girls. One with strawberry blond hair leaned against the locker. The other, a girl with dark hair and pale skin, stood beside her.

"Hi Casey," the girl who leaned against the locker said timidly.

"Hey Bridget," she turned to the dark haired girl, "Marie."

"We just wanted to say we were sorry," Marie said, her eyes focused on a tile on the floor.

Bridget nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we were just scared. We didn't know what to say when Dylan died and," she groaned. "The easiest thing to do was to ignore it, which – as ashamed as I am to say this – was solved by ignoring you."

Casey looked into their faces. They seemed to be filled with guilt and they were biting their lips. Bridget looked into her eyes and Casey smiled. "You know what, it's okay," she said. This was a new chapter in her life, she didn't want any grudges from the past in it. Even if Bridget and Marie had been her friends before Dylan died and they had ignored her after didn't mean they had to stop talking forever.

"What?" Marie seemed confused by Casey's forgiveness.

"Look, it's over," Casey explained. She knew that it wasn't going to be the same as it had been before, but talking would be a start. "Friends?"

"Of course," Bridget said, a smile finally brightening her face. "We'll see you in English!"

She offered the two a quick wave before going to find Nathan. She looked on the back patio and saw a small group by one of the picnic tables. Nathan was sitting down in front of Chad with Zeke, Jason, Todd, and Mike surrounding them.

"You are never going to get it right, Chad! Just face it," Zeke exclaimed.

"No!" Chad yelled. "Come on, Nate, say it again."

Nathan chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd yahd," he said, saying the famous statement 'park the car in Harvard yard' in his Massachusetts accent. Casey giggled as Chad listened carefully. She had gotten used to Nathan pronouncing words differently than she was accustomed to hearing. Instead of 'ar' endings, his words had a hard 'ah' sound at the end.

"Hey!" Nathan said, pointing a finger at her. "Don't you go making fun of me!"

"I'm not!" she said, sitting down beside him on the bench. She flashed him a smile and Nathan rolled his eyes. Her elbow found a nice place in his side to playfully hit him and he gave her a look.

"Hello! Nathan! Stop flirting with Case and help me!" Chad exclaimed.

Casey looked up at Nathan as he turned to face Chad. His face reddened making his slightly sunburned skin more crimson than it had been. She heard Todd and Mike chuckle and she smiled. Chad just rolled his eyes. "Freshmen," he scoffed.

"Hey, you were a freshman once," Casey pointed out.

Chad's face shone with triumph. "Yes, but _I_ was a cool freshman. Unlike the four of you," he pointed to her, Nathan, Todd, and Mike. "I was at the top of the food cha-"

He didn't finish his sentence because out of nowhere Troy had appeared, playfully sitting on his lap with a smile on his face. "Did you miss me?" he asked, loud enough for all the students on the patio to hear.

Casey giggled and noticed Gabriella and Taylor standing next to Zeke and Jason. Almost immediately, she figured out that it had been set up and they had been off in the distance for a while, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Chad looked, clearly annoyed, at Troy as any respect he had just earned from Todd, Mike, and Nathan disappeared in a fit of laughter.

"Oh, loads," Chad told Troy sarcastically. "School was horrible without you."

"I thought so," Troy said. He turned to Zeke and Jason. "Was it awful for you two as well?"

Jason merely nodded, rolling his eyes at the same time. "Don't get too cocky," Zeke said, folding his arms across his chest. The entire group laughed as Troy feigned a hurt expression.

"I almost died!"

"Almost being the operative word," Taylor mumbled.

Casey smiled at the interaction between her brother and his friends. It was as if nothing had ever happened, as if it was still September. She had made friends, just like her brothers had before her and it all seemed normal. For once in as far back as she could remember, her life was the way she had imagined it to be.

She felt Nathan's hand grab her own which brought her out of her thoughts. She shook her head slightly before leaning into him, watching Chad chase Troy around the patio while trying to avoid innocent students. Gabriella was giggling at their childish behavior and Taylor was rolling her eyes, a smiling playing with the corners of her lips. Zeke and Jason were each cheering on one of the boys.

She looked toward the sky. There were clouds, white balls of fluff against a bright blue sky. It almost looked like a painting, so perfect and serene. The bell rang in her ears, but her body refused to move.

"Hey, come one, we're going to be late for homeroom," Nathan said. "That might raise some questions, don't you think?"

She shrugged as they began to walk, hand in hand, to their classroom. Nothing, not even homeroom, not even the horrid last block math teacher Mrs. Lucinda Turcotte, could ruin her first day back.

Because, in every way possible, it was her first day back to life.

**Okay, I added Gabriella in there. No romance, but she's there.**

**I think, as sad as I am to say this, that this is the last chapter. The next will be the epilogue, unless I get a really good, heartfelt reason. I really like these characters, so a sequel wouldn't be out of the question...;)**

**Review!**


	20. Epilogue

**Sorry about the wait. We're painting our dining room and I had to help yesterday. And we only have five weeks or so of school so we're cramming in everything we need to learn. Add in lacrosse and softball (which I play for the local league) and what do you get?**

**Chaos! Busy chaos.**

**So, here's the last chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

**

_**Epilogue**_

"Ten...nine...eight..."

The class giggled at Nathan and Todd, who were counting down the seconds until summer vacation. Casey just rolled her eyes and placed her book in her bag. Their eyes were so focused on the second hand of the clock, she was sure a bomb could have gone off and they'd still be looking at it.

"Five...four...three...two...one-"

RING!

"Yeah!" Nathan and Todd gave each other high fives as the class filed out of the classroom. Even their teacher, the dreaded Ms. Turcotte, pulled her sunglasses over her eyes. Everyone was ready for summer. No school, no work, just fun in the sun.

"So, dude," Casey heard Todd say as she walked over. She slid her hand into Nathan's and he grinned. "Preseason for soccer starts August thirteenth," Todd continued. "Are you going to be around?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I get back the eleventh. Is it tough?"

Todd chuckled, a smile teasing his features as his eyes sparkled. "Depends," he stated, "on how good you are. If you can kick the ball, you're okay. Our soccer program isn't all that great – all basketball," he eyed Casey, "you know – but Coach is trying to improve our standings."

Nathan flashed him a smile before turning to Casey. "Maybe I can be superman," he said. "And save your pathetic school from another losing season."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Don't get too cocky, mister."

"Well, I've got to head out. Send me a postcard or something," Todd said, slapping Nathan on the back and waving to Casey as he made his way to the door. "Behave you two!"

"I'll behave if you behave," Nathan yelled playfully to his retreating back.

The two, finding themselves in the middle of an almost empty hallway, walked out. They waved to various people – some they knew, others they didn't – and sat down under a tree in the front yard of the school. Casey leaned into his chest and felt his arms wrap around her. "What time does your flight leave?" she asked sadly.

"Five," he said as he rested his head on hers. "It wont be that bad. You're coming-"

"Yeah," she scoffed. "In July! Remember, it's a whole month away"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Trust me, you are going to be having so much fun, you'll forget all about me." Casey just stared ahead at the kids rushing around. "Plus, your mom really wants to see you."

"She's just mad that we didn't want to live with her. I wouldn't be surprised if she wouldn't let me come back, let alone me getting on a plane across the country to see you," she muttered. "She doesn't agree with anything Dad says anymore."

"Well, Troy will make her, and if he doesn't, I'll just come get you myself." Nathan smiled and turned her around to face him. "It's only a month, Casey. You and Troy will find something to do in Oregon. It can't be all that boring."

"Ha!" Casey said sarcastically. "You've never met _Elizabeth_," she said the name with scorn, "other than when I was half dead in the hospital. She's different than she was then, believe me. She won't let me and Troy out of the house."

Nathan raised his eyebrows at her explanation and she realized that she might have flavored it slightly. "People change, Casey Bolton," he said with a smile. "She can't be that bad."

"Fine, I'll go willingly, but I won't have fun. You mark my words!" She raised her hand in the air as if she were holding a sword.

"Well, if your summer's a flop, then coming to visit me won't be so bad."

She smiled and hit his shoulder cheerfully. "Seeing you is never a bad thing."

"That's good," Nathan told her with a grin from ear to ear. "Because, if it was, we'd have a problem."

In a smart aleck voice, she replied, "just a little." She stood and looked to Nathan who didn't move. "Let's get you home, because I _know_ you aren't all packed."

Nathan chuckled as he got off the ground. "You know me too well," he said before picking her up and carrying her to the sidewalk.

"I can walk, you know," she told him.

"I do know you can walk, that doesn't mean you have to." Casey rolled her eyes. "Hey, this is the last contact we'll have for a month, if you really want to walk go ahead."

Casey bit her lip. He was right because that afternoon Nathan would be on his way to Oregon and she'd be in Albuquerque. Well, she would be until Sunday when Troy got back from his trip with Chad, Gabriella, and the rest of the gang they took because they graduated the week before. On Sunday, she was going to be on her way to Portland, Oregon to see the mother that left before she knew she was okay when she was in the hospital.

It was all part of the agreement. She and Troy would visit their _mother_ in the summer and then Jack would keep them – or now it was just Casey as Troy was in college – during the school year. Of course, knowing her scheming mother, Casey wasn't sure how much of that she was planning on paying attention to.

Nathan stopped walking and she found herself in front of her house. He put her down and hugged her. "Be good for your mom, please?" he asked. She glared at him. He didn't know Elizabeth and her attitude. "Please, Casey, promise me?"

"Okay," she told him quietly. Nathan placed his lips on her forehead, then on her lips. "I'll miss you."

He smiled sadly. "I will too. July is right around the corner though."

As Nathan turned to walk down the sidewalk to his house, Casey felt tears well in her eyes. She knew she was going to miss him, but it was only a month. She should be able to be away from him for a month without bursting into tears.

But, she knew she couldn't. Nathan was the best thing that had ever happened to her. He was there for her when no one else was. He was her shining star and all she could see, although it was slightly blurred by her tears, was his back. She stuffed her hands in her pockets before running into her house and slamming the door, one thought ringing in her mind.

She was in love with him.

**So, how did you like it?**

**I'll add in an excerpt of the sequel or something, so be on the look out for it.**

**Review!**


	21. Author's Note

Ha ha! I have finally found time to type up some chapters! I have part of Chapter One done for my newest story, the sequel to Help Me, entitled: well, I haven't figured out what it's going to be called just yet.

But, I did promise an excerpt - like you sometimes get at the back of the book when they really, really want you to go out and buy the sequel! Here it is.

* * *

_**Chapter One - **_

_**The Beginning of a Nightmare**_

Casey's stomach rose into her throat as the plane lifted off the runway and into the air. She bit down hard on her fingernail, looking at the houses and roads that they passed over. Out the window, she saw the houses become smaller, suddenly looking like dominoes against a green tablecloth as they reached the clouds. They were white and fluffy and she wanted to touch them to see if they felt as soft as they looked.

"Good morning, I'm Dave Kilgallon, your pilot for your trip to Portland, Oregon from Albuquerque, New Mexico. We will be making a direct flight today and since the weather is good, we are hoping for no delays. Right now, it is a little passed noon and we should be there in a few hours," the voice said from the intercom.

"When are we getting the pretzels?" she asked.

Troy laughed beside her. "Come on, don't look so bummed."

Casey groaned and sent a look in Troy's direction. "You can not seriously be happy about this," she told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I be _happy_?"

"My point exactly," she said. "We could have been late and missed the flight, but no, you said _maybe it'll be fun!_ remember that, Troy?"

Troy looked bored and pulled out a book. "I don't think I said it like that. I believe my words were: maybe we won't be bored. I didn't see you unpacking your bags so we could be late either, C."

He did have a point; she had been all ready that morning. She just didn't want to make her dad mad. For some reason, he wanted them to go and see _her._ Casey didn't have a clue why, the woman wasn't at the top of his favorite people list, but she was - even though they did have to be reminded that whether they liked it or not - their mother.

* * *

Okay, so there it is. The first few paragraphs of Chapter One. I hope you liked it. I have a few characters coming into it so...

Anyway, I'm going to finish Life is a Highway before I put this up, but it should be up before the end of the weekend. I'm only doing a few more oneshots in that. I want to let them go.

And now, just for fun, I'll go all (as my friend would say) corny-like-the-end-of-a-tragedy on you. _Sometimes you must say goodbye._

Well, that's out of my system. Enjoy and look out for the sequel! Any titles, I'm having a brain cramp and anything could jumpstart it!

Review!


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